Endor Beginning

[Nikka Toren]

Endor
16:32
Hangar​

Nikka Toren had come here for a specific reason. One of which was to answer one call; it had come in the form of Alexei, a very promising young man, with complications and a good disposition. But there was another voice that called her from the depths of the Outer Rim. It was somehow familiar... but even she, in all her training, could not pinpoint such a prominent source amongst a planet-like moon. She was not gifted in such things.

Instead, after their patrol, Alexei went in to report their findings and she went to the hangar bay to see to the Oberon, and Tippy. She knew it was only a matter of time until her second quest would come to fruition; she just had to wait and see.

And give Tippy a proper tune-up.

She had shed the jacket, hair tied back and grease already spattering over her pilot's suit, kneeling before Tippy and humming an old love ballad beneath her breath. Soon...

She would meet the call again soon.
@Cloud

 

[Sameus Valorum]

Everything had a beginning...

The young man had been eagerly waiting the chance to touch ground, any kind of it. It wasn't as though flying was a particular annoyance for the lad, on the contrary, he loved it- well when it was he who was piloting the ship of course. Instead, for the past few hours it had been nonstop transporting cargo back and forth back and forth; frankly the Atrisian man had quite enough of it for one day. Every now and then he was afforded the luxury to sit down and actually converse with people. That was another pain to the job; zero socializing. There was the pilot of course, but he was stuck with a stickler. It was all regulation and no fun, no talk. It was a surprise to Sameus that someone could go for so long without muttering a single word. No, instead, he was left to his own thoughts.

A brilliant light peaked through the enveloping clouds of Endor's skies. In all honesty, it was quite beautiful, and a calming comfort for the man who had been groaning all day long in his labor. For moments at a time, he could almost hear the accompanying symphony of music playing side by side with nature. It was times like these that Sameus could stop and just admire the artistic design of the galaxy. It was almost soothing enough to kill his boredom....

...almost.

"We're here."

The sudden voice caused him to jump. It was the most he would get from the pilot -random alerts of arriving- and he should have expected it by now. But, he was unfortunately always caught off guard. The Valorum's hand almost slipped from the railing, catching himself as he lost his balance by sheer reaction more than anything. "Could you be more subtle?" He remarked, a touch of annoyance and sarcasm could easily be caught by the tone under his breath. "Anywho what is it this time? The Alliance has had be running odd jobs all day. Have you guys ever heard of rest?"

The pilot remained silent for a minute, remaining stoic as ever as she clicked a few buttons and stayed focused on her job. Sam's face contorted. "Well-?"

"-yes sir dropping off the package. Thank you sir, clearing acknowledged."

The pilot could probably feel the intensity of Sam's eyebrow raising to it's highest peak. "Package?" He looked around at the space; it was completely empty besides himself. "I don't see any package?"

The ship landed softly within the hangar, as the metallic doors slid open to reveal both Sam to the facility, and the facility to him. This was it, the base of operations at Endor. For all the work Sam had done thus far he had never actually been here. Instead today was his first time, and the majority of the morning through the afternoon was him doing the odd jobs on land rather than the base. A wave of curiosity surged through him. What was the package supposed to be?

Another wave surged within him, but this time it was different, it was..... more. It was as if a presence of some kind, an entity colored his spiritual vision. Sam had come to believe it was a sense of some sort. That's what the Jedi seemed to think, and of course it were the Jedi who sent him to Endor in the first place.

"You will understand when you arrive young one. Take this letter to the woman in question. She'll answer your questions."

It was puzzling to say the least, but here he was, and here he was staring....at the person who stood before him...someone quite startling familiar that he could not believe his eyes. In fact, he had dropped the Jedi letter in shock. The wind (or maybe something more powerful) took the parchment, allowing it to glide gracefully towards the woman standing before him.

"N-Nikka?"

@Killa Ree

 

[Nikka Toren]

Her sense hummed to a keener point; as his ship landed, she made the finishing touches, carefully closing up Tippy's front view panel and stashing her tools away. Though it was nice to meditate, spar, fight, and teach, there were moments of clarity that she needed that came with mechanics; the scent of oil and grease, the hiss of electricity, the hum of a well-made droid...

A voice piped up behind, addressing her by name. Strange.. most these days did not address her as much. It was always preceded by her title, and then her surname; very rarely did anyone seem to remember her first name anymore. She slowly raised her eyebrows; somewhere within the depths of her mind, did a voice ping back some memory. A memory of long ago...

But it was deeper. And when she slowly turned around, her features were drawn in puzzlement, lips pursed slightly, brows drawn.

This young man... there was the acute calling from within him. Something nudged by her boot; she wasn't going to pick it up straight away, there was something of greater interest going on.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" Her voice seemed mildly puzzled, arms crossed beneath her bust. They then settled on her hips, and the eyebrows raised, a confused smile on her face. "Or as someone?"

@Cloud

 

[Sameus Valorum]

Nikka's immediate reaction to Sam's bewilderment added only to his mix of emotions. It was such a sight to see her after all these years that he could barely croak, and it had been years. Still, he couldn't quite ever forget the reason why he decided to leave his home after all. Without Nikka, none of the past five or so years would have been what they were. She held quite an impact on his life, this was certainly true, but...

It might not be the the other way around huh?

Sam's face dropped in proportion to his mood. Did she not recognize him? For a brief moment, Sameus had overlooked a few key important points to their reunion. One, Nikka was in fact blind, a fact that he ultimately knew but foolishly forgotten in the moment. Two, it had been some years since the two had last met, yet alone talked. It slipped his mind that he must've sounded different; older, more mature.

At the thought of it, his spirits brightened. "I guess it has been a long time, eh? But still ouch! Rude!" He smirked as he finally took a step off the ship. His feet tapped the floor, as he took steps forward towards the Jedi. "It's me," he replied gently, "Sameus."

His mind turned back in the time to the moment he had met her. It was truly awesome to see her again.

@Killa Ree

 

[Nikka Toren]

A sly grin marked her lips when puzzlement seemed to come flowing off him in waves. Oh yes, she remembered the troublemaker; had nearly gotten her own skin into a deep fry because of it, as a matter of fact! She definitely remembered, all right, but she wanted at least one moment where he would finally be the one to scramble, not her.

Laughter rang out, hard and silvery ringing. When he came close enough, she lightly cuffed him on the shoulder, the grin still in place. "Of course I remember you, you scamp. But now you're finally taller than me," she teased, head tilted as though to look up at his features. "Sameus Valorum, still the one to duck into ships and reappear when least expected."

One eyebrow was still left raised, her grin softening.

"It's been too long, Sam. We have much to catch up on... and it seems, much to discuss."

House Valorum
5 Years Prior
​

Her latest jaunt with Belavas, a light freighter of her own, took her to a job application where a not-yet very prominent house of a politician and his bride had difficulties with some of their staff droids; she had come to get a feel for the job, so to speak, though she herself was barely of age enough to tour the stars alone, much less run a business. But one good client reported to another, and tentative business brought on wealthy enough clients.

She did not know, however, if they had children or not.

She had dressed as best as she could, long dark hair braided in a cable, her suit nearly spotless. If she recalled long enough, she could remember the first time she met the troublemaker...

It had been in the repairs hall, five years ago actually...

@Cloud

 

[Sameus Valorum]

Straight posture, hair combed, hands behind his back, and at full attention, the boy had recited the same lines he had been speaking for the past hour yet again in the presence of another well-postured man. Contrary to the young lad, the man (a much older one) watched each breath and syllable with keen interest, noting each variance and intonation with intense interest. In a manner of speaking, the scene could be played out as a discipline, something one may see in a preparatory school (or a prison as the boy would describe it.

"Yes yes young Master but errrr- not quite. Bluntly speaking, no one will take you serious like that. You need to bolster each phrase with more bravado, confidence, and understand when to refrain from or assert your statements. A good Politician knows when to utilize these skills, and a crude businessman would do all the same. Now again, perhaps with a pause of a breath after that spurt about trade regulations, hmmm?"

Sameus' groan was palpable, as if it were so intense that it could physically manifest into a tangible object. "Mr. Tsu we've been at this forever! Can't we just call it quits here?" His well maintained posture remain, but only out of discipline and fear of being reprimanded, again.

The truth was he hated this life. It was boring, repetitive, monotonous, and just not his style. His mother and father were doing their best to groom him for a successful future, and he recognized this but... he sighed. Each day it felt more and more like a burden he had to carry. Sam was never a fool enough to curse the circumstances of his birth. Truth be told, he was likely far better off than millions of people in the galaxy. But, he had always felt like there was something... "more."

Mr. Tsun tsked. "Again with this nonsense? There couldn't possibly be anything more than this young Master. You are not only a Valorum but a Prince! Why, you are the envy of Atrisia! One day you will bring far more prestige to our planet, to your family, why you may even be Chancellor!"

That last statement brought ire to the boy. Chancellor? What in blazes would he want to be that for?

Mr. Tsun moved to press their Droid aid once more to continue the lessons, however the situation it appeared would not allow it. With a spizz and a spat, the Droid wigged out. "What in the-?!" The Droid lashed out in a frenzy, hovering and speeding madly around the room almost knocking both Sameus and Mr. Tsun around silly. Without any guidance or control, the Droid simply smashed against the wall opposite Sam, and therefore nearest to Mr. Tsun before the Tutor jumped atop the faulty tech, manually deactivating it albeit it with some trouble.

Sam almost giggled. "Does this mean we're done here?" He exclaimed.

"Yes, unfortunately. Now run along young Master. We wouldn't want anything more happening to you now would we?"

With a simple nod, Sameus would gently exit the room, mainting perfect form in his posture and walk until the very moment he had closed the door behind him. Then, exhaling his breath in an over-dramatic fashion, he jumped away with glee. "Yippee~!" He would shout as he made his way to his room, taking a quick detour along the repair hall as a short cut until-

Oof!

He ran into something solid, yet warm? A person? But who? He could hear the soft gasp of Lady Ko, who was no doubt in the repair halls greeting the arrival of their guest. There was supposed to be someone coming in today right? Looking up, Sam would meet something he would not expect. It wasn't eyes he was looking into, but wraps where they should have been. He tried to speak but panicked when he realized he couldn't, not realizing his face was half buried in the bust of the person in question.

"Oh, whoops, sorry." he would try to say, but all that could be heard was a muffled attempt at it, though hopefully the message was clear enough.

@Killa Ree

 

[Nikka Toren]

She had not been paying attention to her surroundings; instead, she was caught up in the mellifluous tones of her hostess, nodding absently. Truth be told...

Diplomacy and graces were not her strongest suit. She was barely twenty, a woman of her own rights, but still very young in the face of such responsibility. And to be called in by a Princess was... well...

Unorthodox and unexpected.

She was certain they were questioning the merits of her abilities the moment they saw the blind status of the woman before them. But she moved surely and without any stuttering, even when going up the lengthy stairs, her kit in one hand and her datapad with the other.

So when he ran headlong into her, she stumbled back a few steps, letting out a grimacing growl, smothering back a fair shade of expletives that no doubt would have made her company turn several shades cooler.

Not that she would be able to see it to enjoy the effect.

She grabbed the strange, smaller person by the shoulders, extracting him slowly. Her kit had flown from her hands, skittering a few feet away. Her datapad had fallen to the floor, but was spared from a grisly fate by the lush carpeting that decorated the floors beneath her boots.

"Watch where you're going, young man," she scolded lightly, eyebrows raising over her veil. She gave him a light pat on the shoulder, then frowned. Some... feeling, tingled up her palm. She did not know quite how to describe it, but... he felt like one of her kind. But he was not blind. One that can sense the Force, like me? Here? Impossible...

Lady Ko strode up to them, and though she could not see, she could sense the indignation pouring off her in waves.

"Master Sameus," came her voice in exasperation, "why were you running in the halls again? You nearly caused damage to our new repair help."

Nikka was not sure how to process that statement; she thought it was a bit more ludicrous than that! "A mechanic actually, ma'am," she said lightly, nodding once. "On special orders, actually." She tilted her head back to the young man, and stepped back, releasing his shoulders. "Please, excuse me. I just need to see your problems in question," she tilted her face back towards the Lady, "then, when they are all in working order, I will take my leave. Shall we?"

She bowed, then stooped to pick up her datapad. Giving him a simple nod. she then walked on to pick up her kit, and carry on.

She had no idea what status that boy had on this planet; but even in the present day, she was sure she would have acted no differently.

@Cloud

 

[Sameus Valorum]

The torrent of expletives left the boy's impressionable mind to immediately trail into one thought: I like her! No one and absolutely no one would ever dare speak like this around him, his parents would have that individual's head! Given the circumstances the boy had just been introduced to a myriad of words and phrases absolutely alien to him, but the manner if which they were said left little to question. Bad words.

His face revealed nothing to be hidden as the woman plucked his face away. If she had eyes to see they would notice his devlish smile, and would likely assume the cause to be wholly different to what it really meant. He was amused, but Lady Ko certainly wasn't. Of course she wasn't, she always ruined the fun.

"I like to run." He simply blinked at her with a straight face, obviously antagonizing Lady Ko further.

She took him by his ear (one of the few people on the planet who would dare to try and was allowed to) and dragged him away towards the exit, letting him go to finish his walk of shame. But before he would depart he'd leave her with a bit of mischief himself. "So what does %$*$ and #$#@ mean? Or %^#! and #!%@ and what does that have to do with $&%#!'ing the #*!@%$?" He would get his intended response, as Lady Ko's faced flushed into different shades of red. She appeared to be stumbled at a loss for words.

He would leave her like that he he hopped away out and around the corner, but not without waving to Nikka and Lady Ko with a, "$%*& ya later!" The innocent jabs were always the most fun. As he rounded the corner, Sam would actually pause, stepping no further as he knelt down beside the shadows. Sure, going back to his room was better than those boring lessons, but it wasn't everyday when he had guests...well he never had guests. But! He could at least spy when his parents had them!

As if on queue another refined set of footsteps emerged from the opposite door. The rhythm of it left Sam to understand its majesty, as if the mere sound of it left a party to instantly know its owner. It was his father.

"Oh that insolent boy! Doesn't he know that's no way for a Prince to behave! Where does he pick up that attitude-?" Lady Ko's head turned towards the new footsteps. "Oh! M-Master, I was-"

A single raised hand from Sameus' father halted her words. "It doesn't matter, what's important is that we solve our crisis at hand." Turning towards Nikka himself, Lord Valorum would appear to assess her briefly on the spot. His facial indicators displayed nothing positive or negative, merely remaining static as his mind churned. "The mechanic, I presume? How gracious of you to accept our plea. Our situation has become rather dire. The vast majority of our Droids in our home have displayed faulty
functioning. I simply am baffled to the cause." He gestured for Nikka to follow, if he cared she was blind or not to notice no one could tell.

"This is our administrative panel. It generally relays information to the Droids in our facilities, but yet it hasn't been responding to our technicians as of late. I am afraid it appears to be beyond their capabilities." One would assume an Administrative Panel would be just that, a panel, but the truth of the matter was different. Before Nikka stood a massive Droid, far larger than the rest planted firmly into the floor panels of the hall. For the time being it remained off, but with a flick of a switch, Lord Valorum activated the Droid... it wasn't a pretty sight.

"Huh, it kinda sounds like it's saying $#@&." Sam would remark as he peaked around the corner. He was well aware that the tech around home had been malfunctioning. The event earlier with Mr. Tsun was just another example. This main Administrator spun in a frenzy, haywired and sputtering nonsense.

Lord Valorum shook his head at the mess before turning towards Nikka. "We are simply at a loss. Can you help us?"

@Killa Ree

 

[Nikka Toren]

She could just hear by his tone of voice he was no doubt enjoying ever minute being such a... well... her mind scrabbled for the right word for such a reckless youth. Scamp, perhaps, seemed most applicable. And gauging by the Lady's reactions, he was no doubt every inch a troublemaker when trouble was allowed. But it seemed they were of no relation; she was not versed in court hierarchy or anything of the sort, so of course she simply listened, her senses allowing him to leave the room seemingly as quickly as he had arrived.

She chuckled, then, shaking her head slightly at the Lady's roiling indignation. He seemed a harmless enough for a young man, but then again, he was certainly a plucky stranger to not be embarrassed at all by such... actions? Collisions?

She bowed slightly to the newcomer in the room. "Yes sir. Nikka Toren, here to answer your personal request." She listened carefully, slowly nodding along as he explained. The gesture was, though seen, not noted, however she followed in his footsteps lightly. "If you pardon the interruption, but faulty functioning? Were there any explosions, smoke, or simple mismanagements of communication? And if it were something mechanical," she eyed the behemoth, "It may require work with one of your technicians to ensure the delicate wiring is not too damaged. And of course; I would be happy to help." She offered her most engaging smile, nodding once.

"Hopefully, I can have your Administrative Panel, and its' droids, back to working condition; does anyone within your technician circle speak Binary, as well?" She inquired, head still tilted slightly. "I would also like to speak to each droid to determine the cause before beginning the repairs; most errors are a fault in one of the function boards, unfortunately, and none can speak better to the controller than the droids themselves." Her tone was crisp, businesslike as time moved on; already, there were ideas of what could happen, diagnostic tests to pursue.

And also, it seemed, a cheeky young man intent to cause trouble. She could sympathize.

@Cloud

 

[Sameus Valorum]

The Master of the household did no more than nod at Nikka's statements. None of his actions seemed to waste movement, they were precise and as exact as they needed to be. At the very least, Nikka could maybe notice some level of acknowledgement of her way of business. Clear, quick, and to the point; it was a good way to go in Sameu's Father's opinion.

Lord Valorum's eyes veered left and as if already waiting for the queue another presence made themselves known from behind some contraption. As the newcomer made they way slowly to the group, the Lord would shake his head. "That's just it unfortunately. We are all too stumped by our problem, nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary until quite recently." He gently turned his shoulder to greet the technician. "This man is Moon, he should be able to help you with your aforementioned requests. I hope you two together can work to ascertain the root of our woes. Should you need any further assistance from me, feel free to call. However, for the time being I have business to attend to. Lady Ko, with me."

Both Moon and Lady Ko bowed before Master Valorum exited the hall, leaving the floor empty for Nikka to converse with Moon. It just so happened that he did indeed speak Binary. "I know you've probably been briefed already, but I'll say that this has been a weird one for us. Normally fixing this issue would be routine, but..." He didn't finish. It was almost as if the man was ashamed of his failure. This was more so apparent as he continued to scratch and clench at his sleeves, which were getting greasier from the oil and smog on his hands.

"Anywho, most of the Droids can be found in the room over there," he pointed to what appeared to be a closet within the hall, "it's where we've been keeping the affected Droids. They're currently asleep but we can easily switch them on, though I warn you, be careful. They can get a little crazy." Moon made his way to the closet door and procured a key within his side pocket. It made sense. The Droids had become unstable and dangerous. Even in sleep mode it was wise to keep them sealed away for everyone's safety.

"Well... in we go..."

@Killa Ree

 

[Nikka Toren]

She was pleased to not have to deal with chatty company; it meant that if there were any pertinent questions, they would be cleared out of the way, and she could focus on the work at hand. It seemed like a few weeks' job at most, especially from the sounds of droids supposedly just suddenly going karkers. That never happened all of a sudden; she would have to investigate first, and then continue.

She turned as soon as Lord Valorum did, almost as though she could sense the male Moon as soon as he materialized, giving a slight bow, then shook her head. "Nothing is routine when it's at this scale. I'm very honored to meet you, Moon, anyone else would have crumbled with as many issues as this presents." Her hand touched lightly over one of his own, and she gave a warm smile. "Lead the way."

She tilted her head before they stepped in, her voice mildly amused. "A little crazy... how so? Speaking gibberish, running into walls, self-immolating?"

She stepped in with him, relieved the boy had not followed, but seemed content to linger. Something about this situation prickled the hairs on the back of her neck.

I have a bad feeling about this...

@Cloud

 

[Sameus Valorum]

The contents of the room were far more akin to that of a dungeon than a mechanic's closet. Robots, droids, even simple tools were nailed, chained, and/or bolted to something to keep them in place. As promised however, the droids were certainly asleep...until Moon turned on the switch. In one motion, the room became abuzz. Lights flickered, noises blared, the droids came alive and began to thrash around violently. They slammed their heads against the walls and spoke gibberish, as if all their programmed responses were activating at once. It was certain, that if they were not constrained in the manner that they were, the room would be a death trap.

"As you can see-" Moons scratched his head nervously, "-it's quite the problem..." The understatement of the century. With a growing number of droid malfunctions, the efficiency of the state decreased in a downward trajectory. In a massive place such as the home, one could readily ascertain the serious consequences of this problem. If a solution weren't to happen soon, the damage could be exhaustive in a multitude of areas, much outside merely the monetary.

Click. The room powered down with the switch of a button.

"Of course, maintenance can be done while they are powered down, but the circuitry is tricky. We are unable to discern if it is the administrative panel which is faulty, or the relays being returned by our droids. Perhaps it is a glitch that originated in simply one, and grew to affect the others as the relays binged back and forth. Unfortunately I cannot tell. B-But-" Moon let out a gentle smile, one which yet carried a heavy weight of appreciation.

"-I do hope you can bring some sanity back to my Lord's spirit. It has been wearing him down of late." Moon bowed, leaving Nikka alone to her work, or "alone" so he thought, as young Sameus inched closer to inspect Nikka's talents.

@Killa Ree

 

[Nikka Toren]

From the moment she saw the droids and their reactions to being switched on, her mind immediately sprang to action. Faulty wiring was not the cause; they were not directly routed to the administrative mainframe, unless the terminals themselves were corrupted. But she would take one and run a series of diagnostics before even touching the administrative panel, and perhaps it was not the droids themselves but their core processors were short-circuiting due to informational overload...

It was a problem exacerbated by the sheer number of droids present... and highly dangerous. Such a corrupted system needed to be slowly and methodically treated case by case; like a rampant disease, she had to find the root cause of it all, and find a way to fix it.

She listened to Moon intently, humming with thought.

"...I'll see what I can, but if I need further help from you and your staff as soon as you can spare them, and when I ask for it. Thank you Moon, you have been very kind," she smiled, nodding once as he left.

The moment the mechanic left, she exhaled slowly, hands on hips. The room was as still and empty as a mausoleum. As cool as one too; she had no doubt that, even as a storage room, it had its' opulences and designs lost on a blind woman with a mechanical mission.

She slowly approached the first droid. Even though they were deactivated, she could not imagine the horror for the semi-sentient mechanical beings to be subjected to such a thorough scrambling; having a stranger poking around internally would be like... waking up in a surgery.

So she knelt in front of one of the first. Even though they were in sleep mode, she lightly patted its' outer hull, a soft noise of sympathy in her tone.

"I'm so sorry to disturb you, little friend..."

She opened the front access panel, and bent to her work. She didn't notice the young man creeping up behind her, or if she did she didn't really notice all that well...

@Cloud

 

[Sameus Valorum]

The young sprout watched with great interest upon his successful entry into the room. Like a mausoleum the entirety of the space felt dreary and dead. The lights did nothing to illuminate the mood, rather it accentuated the dread and dust that permeated the atmosphere. It certainly was no amusement park... a pity when the boy was concerned. Expecting a magical workshop of wonders was probably not the best expectations to set for the place, but the young Valorum felt compelled by the stories, the danger, the rumors... it would be simply against his nature to veer away from it.

It also helped to know that a curious stranger had arrived, though, in a way Sam already felt as though they were well acquainted (the mechanic may have had other thoughts about it though). The voyeur snuck closer, finding a sufficient niche to sit pat and watch the stranger go to work. He was immediately enthralled...

Upon opening the front access panel Nikka would see a sight that was more than familiar to her. Wires, circuitry, the normal bits that one would find inside of a droid were all there. In fact, the simplicity of the wiring was rather sly, displaying such a basic setup that a mechanic would brush past the veneer and proceed onto the more complicated parts. However, Nikka, if keen, would notice the most subtle of variation, natural or unnatural that proved to show at least a part of the problem.

In the corner, young Sameus would watch, unbeknownst to him that he would sense her thoughts... not wholly but the shifts in moods, recognizing epiphanies along side her. What strange mystical force that allowed such a phenomenon, he would have not even the slightest clue...

@Killa Ree

 

[Nikka Toren]

She didn't see anything, so to speak... but deft, nimble fingers expertly trailed over every nook and cranny, a frown of focus marring her brows. Strange, this technology... It felt strange. Off. The circuitry was simple, certainly, but the wiring, the patterns seemed off. They felt just alien enough to prickle the hairs at the back of her neck.

She picked up the hydrospanner, muttering to herself.

"I've got a bad feeling about this..."

@Cloud

 

[Sameus Valorum]

He had a wonderful feeling about this...

The twinkle in his eyes were telling enough for this boy's enthusiasm; a real outside in the same room as him! Nothing could be more exciting than a left turn from his daily monotony. Sam's perception towards her work-in-progress was eerily keen. It was as though he could sense certain nooks and crannies of her thoughts, or more accurately, her feelings as she tinkered with the mechanical droid.

Wariness, he thought, there was a careful yet noticeable abundance of it radiating from Nikka's person, a sensation that caught the boy's attention even further. Wasn't she a skilled technician or a mechanic? Wouldn't this just be a routine job for her? No... if that wasn't the case then young Sameus may have had just stumbled onto something far exceeding his initial hopes.

He would creep in further to get a better peek at her handiwork, slithering around and under the piles of junk to find himself mere feet from her. If the mechanic's eyes weren't covered, Sam wondered if they were be zipping and zapping back and forth across the intricate wiring; her vibes certainly gave off that effect.

Suddenly, she had picked up a strange tool, one that Sameus had seen before but never touched. t was likely some form of instrument used commonly by mechanics, like a hammer to a carpenter. In unison the boy's own eyebrow cocked upwards, his eyes following the device with renewed interest....

The hydrospanners within the workshop would perform splendidly, as would be expected from a home stemming from wealth. The tools were all top notch, which could have been alarming in contrast to the rather ineptitude of the staff. One would think that with the expensive tools, the hands which held them would be equally as honed in their craft. Could it really be that this problem was beyond the skills of trained craftsmen? Or, was there something more sinister at play.

Should Nikka had paid some further inspection, she might have noticed clues to a rather disturbing revelation...one which may lead her to an unfortunate epiphany...

@Killa Ree

 

[Nikka Toren]

She mumbled a soft song under her breath, but the eerie feeling in her chest now prickled at the nape of her neck. Something felt... off. An edge of awareness that something was horribly wrong. Her specialty was not in the electronic function of them, but in their physical mechanics, manipulators and pieces and parts. And yet...

Her fingers skimmed over them. She felt eyes on her...

It was a stomach-dropping feeling. Like someone was breathing down her neck... the grip on her hydrospanner tightened, her jaw clenched. Now was not the time to address watching eyes, though she had an inkling of a notion. It gave her chills just to even consider the possibilities.

Just... why?

But this wasn't the root of the problem; it was just one of many.

No... if she had to find the root of the problem, she had to dig deeper.

She gently began to pry wiring from the mainframe, fusioncutter humming to life. Her face was a neutral mask of concentration, but inside she was a mass of concern, worry, and horror.

Who would deliberately mutilate such machines? She had weeks to go before finding the faulty origin, but she would settle to repairing the electrical components and rewiring them back to standard once more. She just hoped she didn't take too long before the saboteur decided to use such grievous measures to harm the family who had employed her.

"If you're going to watch, I suggest you be useful and come here."

@Cloud