Cat's in the Cradle

[Outlander]

Theme​

Nar Shadaa. For a place she loathed more and more on a daily basis, she certainly found herself here frequently. But, it made sense to a degree. Rebels where only distinguishable from common underworld trash by their goals. Rebels fought for a purpose; they didn't fight for their own gain. And so, many members of the Underworld where susceptible to this change of purpose. Or, could be coerced to fake it. It didn't matter to Bria as long as they where useful.

What really bothered her was the company she kept. Two of the most troublesome and annoying members of her company. Behind her, down in the hold where he wouldn't be a nuisance, was Doctor, here for the expertise he could offer. Unfortunately, the one area he couldn't deny him was in his knowledge of medicine, although there where times where she seriously considered forgoing that benefit and spacing him. That impulse hadn't won her over... yet.

More directly behind her, unfortunately in earshot, was Hareth. The tiny, angry, little girl that Bria was now overseeing personally. Again, she was here for her expertise of a somewhat different nature.

"You're sure this woman is your mother?" Bria asked once again, turning to face the girl as the ship came down into the lower levels on an automatic approach. "You haven't seen her in years. How do you know?"

@Tray Tor @Retroboy

 

[Retroboy]

For the first time in a long time, Hareth was briefly stunned silent. When she had seen it, she stared at the image, almost unable to believe that she was seeing something real. It seemed more believable that this was somehow some incredibly cruel dream, brought on by grief or self-loathing. It could not possibly be her mother that she was seeing. But it was, wasn't it. Frozen in time. She hadn't changed much since Hareth had seen her last. Still perfect, still beautiful. Hareth had always wanted to look just like her, so much.

"I'd never forget my mummy..." Hareth said quietly, before looking at Bria. "--Mother. I would never forget my mother. I was only a little girl but I remember how she looks. She hasn't changed at all."

She clenched and unclenched her fists. Hareth looked very similar to the woman, albeit in miniature. The woman was taller, more curvaceous, but the resemblance was practically undeniable. The biggest difference, it seemed, was that Hareth had four fingers instead of her mother, who had the usual Arkanian three, something Hareth had been a little testy about when people deigned to point it out.

I'm going to see my mummy again, she thought. It filled her with as much dread as it did excitement. How much Hareth had changed in those years... but she knew her mother would have to be happy to see her. Hareth had grown strong in the Force, now. That was something to be proud of. She wasn't a weak little girl who would take up all her time and effort. One hug, just one hug would make it all worth it. All the anger, the loneliness. Knowing that her mother loved her and getting that one embrace would make every last thing tolerable. But what if she wasn't good enough? What if she was still a drain, a parasite? No, she couldn't think about that. She had lost her mother once. She couldn't do it again in her heart before she even saw her.

@Tray Tor @Outlander

 

[Asteroid]

Doctor was surprised when Bria asked him to accompany her and Hareth on this little excursion to Nar Shaddaa. Bria wasn't exactly the most friendly employer that he had ever had the pleasure to work for, granted his constant teasing of the tortured mandalorian didn't help the situation. Despite their obvious differences she still elected to bring him along which could only mean one of two things. Someone was going to get shot or she needed someone to look smart.

Doctor was down in the ships hold, partially to be as far away from Hareth as possible and partially because Bria told him to. He passed the time by playing 'five-finger-filet' with an old scalpel he found which turned out to be a bad idea once the ship began to land causing the blade to graze against Doctor's middle finger. He cried out in a brief expletive laden rant out of surprise rather than pain as he medicated the wound and walked up to the cockpit where the two women were, catching the tail end of the conversation.

"What was your mom like?" He interjected, trying to pass the time as the ship's autopilot guided the ship. ​

 

[Retroboy]

It's a difficult question to answer for Hareth, mostly because she had very little time to actually get to know her mother. She remembered a few things, like that her mother didn't really like hugs or physical affection, and that she never really liked to do things like sleep. Her mother was such a busy, busy woman. But Hareth remembered loving her a lot, like any young child would. Sometimes, she would just sit in silence and watch her work. Her mother seemed happiest when she was working.

"She was very smart," she said. "Very, very smart. Always working on something. Didn't really have many friends... sometimes had a man over though. Never the same one. Uhm... She had a big sweet tooth. Would sometimes forget to make dinner but always had a pack of sweets with her. Usually these little... sour raspberry candies. Liked to eat them when she was working. She never said much at all to me. Liked the quiet. Would sometimes listen to orchestra stuff but that was all. Didn't let me watch TV because she said it would rot my brain out."

She shrugged her shoulders.

"She never yelled at me or anything. Didn't like to play but would sometimes give me these little puzzle toys to keep me occupied...'

She looked at Doctor.

"Why?"

 

[Outlander]

Bria turned for the two, now engaged in their own conversation, as she refocused her attention on the changing landscape outside. The ship slowly lowered itself down to the waiting platform, a small jolt running through the struts and up into the hull as it set down, puffs of steam curling away from the coolant systems as the ship rested. With a swift motion, her helmet was on, and she was already out of her seat. "We need to hurry if we're gonna arrive on time." She disregarded their conversation, cutting right to their mission. Whatever information they wanted to share about Hareth's mother could be told just as easily while they where moving.

She set out down the ramp, not looking over her shoulder at the two others who would, no doubt, be following her. The meeting point wasn't far from their pad, but the route she was taking would include a more winding route, along with a double back in case any of the local gangsters decided to shadow them. Factoring that in, they'd only just make it on time if they picked up the pace.

 

[Asteroid]

Doctor wanted to internally scream as Hareth went on about the little meaningless things that her mother used to do when she was a child. Prahaps he essentially clear enough but Doctor didn't care about frivolous things. "No I meant what did she do, what was her job?" Doctor sighed as he stepped off of the ship and followed Bria. ​

 

[Retroboy]

Hareth scowled at Doctor, her reminiscing of her mother now replaced with a reminder that Doctor was in fact that most odious, repugnant slime in all the Galaxy. Times two. She folds her arms, but figures she might as well answer his question. After all, she was a gifted woman and she was where Hareth got her brains from. Perhaps Doctor would at least be put in his place by knowing just how many leagues beyond him her mother really was.

"She was a geneticist and biochemist," Hareth said. "One of the best. She dabbled in other things, but that was what she was best at."

Hareth wondered how far her mother's studies had come. Already she was a genius when Hareth was just a little girl, and her mother was only in her early 20s then. Now, 14 years later, who knew what her mother would be up to. Maybe she had finally gotten those awards she always wanted, or maybe she had made some major breakthrough that would forever change the Galaxy. There were so many possibilities there that Hareth could not help but be excited. She knew that her mother would be happy now, though. She would have to be. She was destined for great things.

She practically bounds, moving next to Bria. "I'm sure you're going to love her," Hareth said. "You kind of remind me of her, very similar personalities. You'll get along great."

@Outlander @Tray Tor

 

[Outlander]

"Uhuh. I'm sure." If this woman was similar to her, she couldn't imagine them getting along particularly well. She didn't mesh well with others like herself. But, if she could handle Doctor, she could handle this woman.

Her posse traversed the city, Bria leading the way as Hareth and Doctor followed behind her. The area of town they where in was bad, even for Nar Shadaa. It was on the edge of the territory owned by a lesser Hutt gangster, and was under near constant attack by several other local gangs, turning the entire block into a warzone. Bria could only guess why one of the galaxies renowned biochemists was slumming it here. But, she'd picked up Doctor in a similar location, so nothing was out of the realm of possibilities.

Soon enough, she found the meeting place. A nondescript grey door off in a side alley. It was only upon closer inspection that Bria realized how reinforced it was. It would take some serious kit to blow a hole in it.

Bria tapped the keypad to the side, entering the code she'd been given. A beat passed before the door slid to the side, revealing a decently furnished entryway.

 

[Retroboy]

The interior of the building was surprisingly well-kept, almost eerily so. Everything was kept in order, to an obsessive degree. Every little detail was kept perfectly straight, from paintings to the shoe-rack, within the millimeter, as though someone had used a very precise protractor to make sure everything was perfect. Further in was no less organized. The entryway opened up into a great open space, where every table was exactly 2 meters apart, each one being exactly a meter and a half long and 0.75 meters wide, all made of the same metal, the same height, and each and every single table polished to a mirror sheen, covered in beakers that had been perfectly arranged on the tables.

Suddenly, a voice echoed across the vast laboratory. "Ah, you must be Bria," a voice says, with the same posh accent Hareth possessed, although in a voice altogether more dangerously sultry. "Welcome, welcome. I'd come to greet you but I'm in the middle of observing an experiment in progress. You are welcome to join me."

Hareth grew misty-eyed. The voice of her mother was unmistakeable, and propelled her further forward. She was going to be reunited with her mother, after all these years. She stood up, shoulders erect. It was the most beautiful and terrifying experience she had in her life, but she was more than ready for it.

A beautiful Arkanian woman stood at the edge of the laboratory, a cigarette hanging from her mouth as she looked into an observation room, scratching things down on a datapad. She looked a lot like Hareth, albeit taller, with a more curvaceous figure and hair that, rather than white, was instead a rich shade of golden blonde, tied up in a no-nonsense bun. All around her were little recording devices. She was dressed in a labcoat smeared in various shades of red and dark brown, along with a few small splotches of faded blue and green, with a tight pant-suit underneath. Her eyes, hidden behind a pair of thin-rimmed glasses, only briefly observed the newcomers.

"Hello," the woman said. "...And welcome. I am Doctor Narina Maruhi, as you might have guessed. This is my laboratory. I would assume you, miss, are Bria, but I don't know your companions. I believe I am owed an introduction."

Her eyes remained fixed on the observation room, where a Zabrak woman stumbled around, foam falling from her lips, her eyes frenetic. The tattoos of the Sith order were obvious on her, but she was dressed in rags. Her lips were chewed to the point of being bloody and raw, and wherever there was exposed skin, there were deep scratches, ruined flesh and disturbing looking bruises.

@Tray Tor @Outlander

 

[Asteroid]

Doctor internally cringed when Hareth said that her mother was a geneticist. As he walked down the streets of Nar Shadaa he briefly considered just ditching his party and going to find a strip club instead, it would more than likely be ten times more exciting then playing family reunion with the world's worst patient and a half toaster half asshole. Still upsetting both of them was not a smart career move so he decided to stay. The woman's house was surprisingly very organized, the last time Doctor saw furniture so exuisitly organzied was when he made a house call for one of his patients who turned out to be a serial killer.

"Nice place." Doctor said, poking one of the empty beakers causing it to fall and shatter which doctor stealthily covered up by coughing very loudly as he followed everyone else with his hands now in his pockets. It was when he rounded the corner and finally laid eyes on the Arkanian that Doctor finally accepted being here, the woman was simply stunning and had everything that he wanted in a woman. "Your moms hot." He bent over and whispered into Hareth's ear as he took off his surgical mask. "I am Doctor Clancy D'jek, at your service." He said with a short formal bow. ​

 

[Outlander]

"You're correct. I'm Bria Tsuani, of GALAF." She said, only confirming what the woman already knew. Her operation was impressive considering the surroundings; the lab was better equipped than their facilities on the Asylum, despite whatever it was that Clancy di- Wait, Clancy? Bria knew he'd changed his name legally to Doctor, in what she imagened was one of his few legitimate actions for a long time, but she didn't know his name was originally Clancy.

He didn't look like a Clancy. He looked more like a... Prick?

Pushing that strange train of thought to the side, Bria refocused on the situation, making a note of the subject in containment. She didn't feel any sympathy; the followers of the Sith deserved nothing of the sort. Being used for biological weapons research was, actually, far better than any of their ilk deserved. And what research it was. If they could target an area specifically with the agent being displayed...

"And this is Hareth. Hareth Maruhi."

@Retroboy @Tray Tor

 

[Retroboy]

Narina turned and smiled with genuine warmth at Doctor as he introduced himself. "Ah, another doctor," she said. "Any particular field?"

However, her gaze was broken when Bria addressed her. She seemed please to know that her suspicions were correct, but her smile melted as Hareth was introduced. Her gaze focused on Hareth, and she looked her up and down. Her mouth curled into a look of... concern? Disgust? It was exceptionally hard to tell.

"Oh..." she said flatly.

Hareth's expression was quite different. For the first time since she had met the others, she looked genuinely happy. Ecstatic even. It wasn't the malicious glee she expressed when tormenting others, but an altogether more innocent, pure kind of joy. Her eyes were slightly misty, and she bolted across the room to wrap her around her mother, holding her tightly. For so many years, Hareth had dreamed of seeing her mother again, and now it was true. She buried her face in Narina's shirt for a moment, before looking up at her.

"Mummy!" she said. "It's been so long! I've missed you!"

Narina, for her part, had a face that looked like she had just bitten into a particularly sour earthworm by mistake. "Mm... yeah," she said, moving to push Hareth gently away from her. "It's... Uhm... It's good to see you too. We can talk later."

"But... But I haven't seen you in forever!" Hareth protested, sounding hurt.

Narina sighed. "I know, I know..." she said hesitantly. "But I am doing business right now. And, um, no need for all this 'mummy' business. Narina will do just fine." She looked to the others, still clearly uncomfortable. She clapped her hands together. "SO! We spoke very briefly, Ms. Tsuani, but I'm still not entirely clear what you want from me. Would you mind explaining what you have in mind?"

@Outlander @Tray Tor

 

[Asteroid]

Doctor smirked when Narina asked about his practice. It was refreshing to finally meet another medical professional who refused to be bound by morality when it came to researching and perfecting their craft and by the looks of the Zabrak woman who looked like she ate too much whipped cream Narina seemed to be just that kind of person. "I mostly practice with expiramental cybernetic enhancements although my doctorate is in clinical surgery, I've found that the street trash on this planet serve as an excellent source of test subjects as I'm sure a woman such as yourself is well aware of." He responded as the tail end of his sentence was cut off by Hareth's incessant babbling about the attractive woman being her mother.

Doctor did wonder what the real reason behind this excursion to his old stomping grounds. Obviously the sole purpose wasn't to reunite Hareth with her long lost mother. Even if Bria cared about her, which he highly doubted, she was far too busy a woman to waste time on a social visit.
@Outlander​

 

[Outlander]

Bria quirked an eyebrow at their... exchange. It was somewhat odd seeing a mother act so visibly distant towards her daughter. Hareth couldn't have been very old when the Jedi brought her in, so it's not like she had much time to make her own mother loathe her. That, from what she recalled of her own childhood, usually happened during the teenage years; it wasn't like she could bring her own mother back from the dead and ask.

But, at the end of the day, they'd have plenty of time to get re-acquainted after the formalities were out of the way. Maybe it'd get Hareth to finally stop being so volatile. Seeing her with her mother was just about as cheery as she'd ever seen the girl.

"Basically, Doctor Maruhi, we want to recruit you for some specialist research I think you'll find very interesting." The words took on an edge of their own, given context by the deteriorating woman behind them. "How much do you know about Midichlorians and cellular corruption?"

@Tray Tor @Retroboy

 

[Retroboy]

Narina grinned at Doctor. "Oh, my, cybernetics," she said. "You know, you and I should swap notes some time." The way she said it and the way she held her posture suggested that perhaps it wasn't just notes that she wanted to swap. "But I agree. Science is its own end, and we really shouldn't constrain it with such silly things like "ethics". That said, I do try and limit my test subjects to the Sith. It seems most people don't really care what you do to people like them."

Her eyes wandered over to Bria, and she was clearly excited about the prospect. "Well, I could go into a lot but you could say I'm quite knowledgeable. Midichlorians especially. I actually took some blood samples from Hareth here back when she was a little girl that helped me finish my doctorate thesis with honours."

Hareth pouted, folding her arms and looking at her feet. Narina seemed to pick up on this, and even though she had no irises or pupils, it was clear she rolled her eyes. "Look, do you want to sit in my lap or something? Will that make you stop moping?" It was clear that Narina didn't really know how to handle an adult child.

Shifting, and feeling a bit stung at being accused of moping, Hareth still accepted. She sat in a stool next to Narina, wrapping her arms around her. Narina sighed.

"Never have children," she said, before running her fingers through the girl's hair uncomfortably, stroking it up and down. "There. Now no more interrupting me. I have a future to secure here."

 

[Asteroid]

"Well maybe I'll just have to take you up on that later." Doctor replied, shifting his posture to a more upright and confident one. Narina truly was the all in one package that Doctor had been looking for; physically stunning, intellectually inclined, and unbound by what others thought of her actions. Doctor hoped to god that Bria wouldn't do something stupid to screw up how chance.

Now he understood why he was begrudgingly dragged back to this armpit of a planet although he was still a little confused by the nature of her request.

Doctor frowned as Hareth continued to pout about her mother giving her the cold shoulder. A laboratory in the middle of gangland, regardless of how well defended it was, was probably not the best location for a family reunion. This was underscored by the Sith in the other room who was groaning in pain.

"I've had good results in using 20 milliliters of Lecepanine whenever she gets a little too rambunctious. Really makes my job easier sometimes." He replied to her statement about not having children.
@Outlander​

 

[Outlander]

"Uh. Should we give you two some time alone? I know you haven't seen Hareth in years." Bria asked, slightly uncomfortable. Not because of Doctor's growing... enthusiasm. That just made her want to smack him. But the fact that Hareth so clearly wanted some kind of maternal attention, and her mother's reluctance to give it. Bria was still undecided on Hareth as a person, but if them stepping out for a few minutes would give them the space to actually sort things out, that would make negotiating later slightly easier, as they wouldn't have to deal with the somewhat awkward feeling.

 

[Retroboy]

Narina looked at Hareth for a moment, then back at the others. She chewed her lip, clearly thinking about Bria's offer. Then, she sighed, and nodded. "Yes, I think we do need some time alone," she said. "It'll just be a little bit." She waited for the two to give her some space, before she turned to her daughter.

Hareth, for her part, was ecstatic. Finally, she would get a chance to talk with her mother, after all these years. "I... It's been so long," she said, straining her voice. "I just... I thought about this every day."

Narina looked over Hareth, and she made a pained expression. "Hareth..." she said. She put a hand on her daughter's shoulder, and Hareth saw something dangerous in her eyes, something she didn't like seeing at all. It felt like she was a sailor watching a storm break over the horizon. "We need to talk about..." Narina gestured between herself and her daughter. "This."

Hareth stared at Narina, her face furrowing. "What do you mean?" she asked tentatively.

Narina sighed through her nose. "What you want from me, you can't get."

Hareth blinked. "I just want my mummy back in my life!"

"Mm. Well, see, what I want is... the opposite of that." Narina at least had the grace of looking bashful about it, although it felt more like someone admitting to dropping food on the floor than any real sense of guilt. Embarrassment, really.

Hareth recoiled as if shot. "What?" she said, her eyes beginning to mist over.

Narina bit her lip. "Oh, please, don't do the crying thing. I've always hated that. Let's both be adults here."

Hareth was horrified. "But I don't understand," she said, her eyes peering deep into her mother's, who instead did everything she could to avoid Hareth's gaze. "Don't you love me?"

Narina stared at Hareth in silence there, making several half-formed gestures, before finally closing a fist in front of her and shaking her head. "N-no. I'm sorry, it's probably not what you want to hear, but I don't."

Hareth gaped. "That's not funny," she said, her voice breaking. "Don't do this to me."

Narina slid her hands down her face. "This is what I was trying to avoid," she said. "Look, I don't want you to feel bad, because it's really nothing personal. It's not any fault of yours. I am just... slightly defective and find it very hard to love people... Really."

A tear spilled from Hareth's eyes, and she shuddered. This wasn't how this was supposed to go. This was unfair. She had spent her entire life dreaming of seeing her mother again and now she had just been told her mother didn't love her. Was this a sick joke being played on her? Had the Force decided that perhaps she had not suffered enough and thus orchestrated events to make her suffer even more? The room spun, and she slammed her her hand on the table next to her, using it for support as she choked out a sob.

Narina frowned, and looked around the room, looking more uncomfortable than anything. "Oh, Hareth, I am so sorry," she said. "I... this is why I gave you away. It was better for both of us. I was making sure you were with good people who would love you for who you are, and I was... I was able to focus on my work."

Hareth continued to cry, unable to respond. Her face was red. Her heart hurt so very badly.

"I had never expected a child, much less one who wasn't fully Arkanian... This is hard on me too, you know. I didn't want to deal with this."

Hareth stopped, staring at Narina. "What...?"

Narina paused. "Oh, right," she said. "Forgot I never told you that. Yeah. You're only three quarters Arkanian. Father was half-human. Was just a fling, really... I never expected it to turn into this. It was just... You know, one minute we're making love, the next thing I know I'm pregnant, and then... You know, I thought maybe I could make it work, but when I first held you I just... felt nothing, and that is when I realized I was just never meant to be a mother. It wasn't fair of me to do but I was young and stupid."

Hareth's sobbing got louder. So her mother had never loved her. A bunch of memories surged back. Her mother's general unwillingness to hold her, the detachment her mother always had... the way she would look at her when Hareth asked her to read her a story. It all became so agonizingly obvious now that she thought about it. She wasn't wanted. No one had ever wanted Hareth... not even her own mother.

"How could you do this to me?!" she hollered, loud enough for Bria and Doctor to hear it.

Narina slapped herself in the forehead, dragging the palm down over her face. "Alert the whole neighbourhood, why don't you," she grumbled. "Look, Hareth, you're acting as if I'm doing this to purposely hurt you. I'm not. It's not anyone's fault. Just a random gene in the brain going slightly haywire. And hey! I might not ever be able to love, but we'll be working together, right? Maybe... Maybe we could be friends. Would you like that? You know, find something we have in common, or something. It's not love, but it's something, right?"

Hareth looked up at Narina with revulsion. She didn't want to be friends with her mother. What kind of offer even was that? Why did everything in her life have to be this way? Why couldn't there just be a single point of light that didn't go out the moment she got close to it? She felt so cold, and empty.

"NO!" she screamed, standing up from the stool. "I hate you! I hate you so much!" Hareth turned on her heel, and ran out of the building, heading past the Doctor and Bria to go curl up next to a wall, burying her face in her arms and wailing.

Narina sighed, craning her neck back. She produced a new cigarette and lit it, looking around her lab. "Well at least she didn't break anything, I guess," she said to no one in particular.

 

[Outlander]

Bria didn't feel anything. That was surprising. She thought she should feel something. Anything, really. But everything felt so numb. She knew what she was doing, of course, and knew why she was doing it. But there had to be some kind of emotion behind it.

Maybe she didn't feel it because it was what she felt all the time?

Rage. Almost pure rage, burning white hot within her core.

Time slowed. Her body moved on impulse. It all went by in an instant as Bria removed one of her Gratia pistols, took careful aim, and fired twice into the Arkanian scientist in front of them. One to the body, one to the head, each in quick succession. The woman didn't even have enough time to react as the force behind the bolts threw over the now lifeless body, the wounds instantly cauterized by the heat of the plasma, lad boat scorched around the impact.

She only just registered the dull thud of her body hitting the floor. She was already dead by that point. A much quicker death than she deserved.

With somewhat disturbing calmness, Bria replaced the pistol in its holster.

@Retroboy @Tray Tor

 

[Asteroid]

Doctor was frozen in a state of disbelief and mild surprise with his arms out spread as the now lifeless Arkanian scientist collided with the floor with a loud *thud*. "Twenty minutes. You couldn't wait. Twenty. Minutes." Doctor seethed as he walked into the now dead woman's lab with his hands on his head. "What the hell was your thought process Bria? You offer her a job and then kill her because she 'hurted your fewwings'. He said mockingly after releasing a large sigh. "What's next? You going to kill me because I have a 5 year old I don't pay child support on?!"

Doctor sat down on a nearby rolling chair and reclined. It had been years since he had actually touched a woman, barring the few odd times he had to augment one that came to his clinic, and right when his chances started to look good the walking toaster that he had to call boss shattered his hopes. Sometime he thought to himself why he even bothered sticking around. If Hareth wasn't already pissed she was going to be now.
@Retroboy @Outlander