Ask Coruscant Me and My Shadow

Carrick

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Politics was an ugly, dirty, business but it was the one he had chosen for himself.

What he had NOT chosen for himself was the charity that he and his political 'allies' had decided to get involved in. Why was a politician from Naboo working to help disadvantaged teenagers on Coruscant? It was a decent enough cause, he supposed, but why on Coruscant? Why not on the planet he was actually trying to get elected in?

Whatever the logic behind it, he was here now. Standing around a shelter for teenagers that had run away from home and ended up on the streets of Coruscant - here they got free food and a roof over their heads. Wandering around, he could see that some of the kids had already been singled out for his political allies to buddy up to.

Usually the photogenic ones.

Instead of focusing on looks, Carrick decided to focus on the Force. He didn't hide the fact that he was once a Jedi from anyone - he had a very shiny lightsaber attached to the front of his belt after all - but it was time to take advantage of that. Reaching into the Force, he was actually surprised that he got something from one of the teenagers.

Felt like one of the new arrivals was Force Sensitive... a girl. He waved to her as he approached.

"Hi there - you got a minute to talk?"



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It did not take long before the orphanage or "child shelter" as they like to refer themselves as had put out a BOLO on the redhead teen. And it did not take long before officers, or more like the rangers recognize the kid and take her to the shelter. At least in the silver lining, she was back in the core, the down side was she was going back to Andara in the morning. Everyone at the shelter had been corralled into the mess hall for what she felt was a political stunt. The teen sat in the back observing the photo-ops that many seemed to enjoy.

Lyra thought they all looked ridiculous. She adjusted her earbuds, feeling the heavy gaze of the supervisors who ran the shelter to ensure she did not take off without "adult supervision". Watching the flash of the cameras brought back the memories of her parents at parties. The politicians getting their photos in to make it look like they cared more than they really did. Her father's voice echoed in her thoughts, reminding her to be skeptical of their promises. There was a rush of emotions and Lyra reminded herself they were not needed now, she would cry later, miss them later, deal with this later.

She glanced down at her device, jumping to the next song when she felt something...odd, her gut told her to be attentive. Lyra looked up to see a bearded man walking toward her and she quickly eyed him from head to toe, eventually settling on the lightsaber. Her eyes focused on the metal cylinder, but didn't bother to remove her earbuds as he waved, asking if she had a moment to talk. Lyra just starred at the man and one of the supervisors came by to yank one of the buds out of her ear and Lyra rolled her eyes.

"I guess I have a moment. I'm not doing the picture thing though." she huffed.

 

Carrick

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The fact that the girl he was speaking to seemed to come with something of a prison guard detachment watching her was... concerning to say the least. If she was actually a hardened criminal then they would likely have been swapped out for Rangers or local police and she would be in cuffs. The only reason they were getting away with treating her like she had done something gravely wrong was because she was allowing them to have that power over her.

Or perhaps he was over-analyzing.

"Oh don't worry I wasn't going to ask you to - I'm afraid I'm not very photogenic myself."
he assured her with a small smirk and a quick joke, "Just wanting to have a chat."

He eyed some of her minders and gave them a winning smile.

"Mostly alone? Out of earshot at least? Please? Thank you so much."


The adults supervising her stepped away but still didn't leave either of them out of their sight even as Carrick sat down in a chair made of plastic no one in the Galaxy would ever be able to call comfortable. Sat (and nowhere near relaxed), Carrick let out a short sigh before cutting right to the point.

"So is the Jedi Order sending Padawans to watch me and make sure I'm not selling them out?"
he raised an eyebrow, "Or am I to be some young Sith's first trial?"

Beating around a bush just hurt the flowers after all.


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Darth Tiamat

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He asked for them to be alone or at least more privacy and that certainly caught the girl's attention as she turned down the volume on her device. They seemed to listen to him and he didn't even work here! That thought irritated her enough that she felt herself jump to the defensive as he pulled up a chair next to her, sitting down with a sigh. He asked if there were a Jedi pada-something or a Sith and instantly she knew what was going on.

"I think you're a bit crazy old man. Like the rest of them, disconnected, you don't understand anything." she told him, scooting her seat away by a couple inches to give them some space. He was crazy, and she just happened to be lucky enough to draw the short straw to speak with him. "I'm not interested is this political nonsense." her voice was getting louder, clearly uncomfortable with the whole situation she was in, "I shouldn't even be here." her eyes shot to the supervisors who were starting to stroll closer to the teen in case things continued to escalate.

She fell silent, arms folded, her scowl rested on Carrick before turning her head to look at the floor in defiance. She felt someone approach from behind, "Don't kriffin' touch me." she growled.

 

Carrick

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Trying to read the emotions of teenagers was like trying to swim in gravy. You might be able to do it for a little while but all that happened was you ended up feeling filthy and confused. Even now, just trying to read her emotions, he felt like she was taking advantage of that and cycling her emotions faster than he could truly come to grips with them. She could have been specially trained by either the Jedi or the Sith to hide her true intentions like that.

Or...

Or she was a teenager who had no idea she was Force Sensitive.

"I seem to understand now that you actually don't understand that your have access to the Force."
he admitted bluntly, finding it refreshing to be able to be this honest while playing the part of a politician, "Forgive me for thinking you were already in control of it."

He raised an eyebrow as the supervisor who had been about to touch her shoulder paused, obviously confused as to how the young woman had managed to know they were there when they had been so quiet. Carrick smiled ever so slightly and wave the super away with a hand. They did so only reluctantly and he accepted that.

He was a strange bearded man talking to a teenager after all.

"So why are you here then?"
he asked with an eyebrow raised, "Do you have anywhere else to be?"



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Lyra had always equated the Force with mythology. Her parents never believed it to be a real thing and she had followed what they had taught her. Force or not, there were bad people in the galaxy, nothing about a secret religion made it anymore special. If you broke the law, you should face the punishment. So for him to say she did not understand her access to the Force made no sense and she waited for him to get to his point.

Luckily, the staff did not touch her, she watched the nonverbal command he gave just with a raised eyebrow and could feel whoever was behind her back away. He seemed to keep her interest on her, delving into more questions about her presence in this shelter. She questioned why he wanted to know her story and wonder if he was a recruiter for his religious clan.

"They're sending me off-world, but I don't belong there either. Corellia is my home, not some orphanage on Andara. They won't stop watching me they're afraid that I will run." she explained and then paused, "I'm not joining your stupid religion either. The Force is your business, do whatever you want with it and try to get some other kids to join you, but I know its a sham, I know how it all works." She sounded like she was warning him to watch himself and there was a hesitation to let him in on what else was happening with her currently.



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Carrick

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Teenagers were a pain in the arse because they had just enough natural intelligence to understand some things – and just enough hormones to think that meant they knew everything.

Raising a hand, Carrick detached his cloak with a gesture of the Force. Without looking at it, he folded it over the back of the chair he was sat in as he leaned in slightly closer to get a better look at her. She wasn’t afraid of the Force so much as she… didn’t believe it? Didn’t trust it? It was, as he had thought earlier, harder to read the emotions of a teenager. After a few seconds, he shrugged a little bit.

“I left the cults behind me – took their teachings but now I use them as I want. I’m not going to try and induct you into the Jedi or the Sith.”
He assured her with a thin smile, “I’m a politician – I’m far more insidious I’m afraid.”

Eyeing her handlers for a moment, he leaned back slightly in his chair before flicking his attention back to her.

“Corellia. Hmm – I have been meaning to expand to Corellia. So I have a possible solution for you, young Miss, for you to mull over.”
He smiled and it wasn’t the plastic ones he used for the cameras, “Sign on as a political intern for me and I will have you registered as an emancipated minor. In return, you assist me in a few… errands, on Corellia.”

It as a snakebitten offer but it was better than being shipped off world or treated like a criminal… maybe.



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Darth Tiamat

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Lyra's head perked up just slightly as he removed his cloak, first of course believing it was just a sleight-of-hand or parlor trick. It was when he gestured for the clothing to fold over the back of the chair did her scowl fade and a curiosity piqued, though there was a deep feeling of skepticism and perhaps anger. Both her parents were dead because of people like him and now he was trying to assume she was one of them.

He claimed he did not associate with either of the cults as he referenced them and found an allegiance among politicians, which for Lyra, she did not think it helped his case.

She let him continue as he made his proposal, he had taken interest in her and made an offer, a tempting one. Lyra did not say anything at first as she thought over on how she wanted to respond. "I already asked to be emancipated, they said no." she explained, remembering the previous conversation with disdain. "Plus, I don't know who you are, or your political insidious nature, how do I know you don't plan to sell me to some slavers." she threw back at him.



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Carrick

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She was interested but quite sold though, frankly, he would have been rather ashamed if all it had taken to get her to sign on was the initial pitch. After all, she didn't have any information about him or how far she could actually trust him. That she hadn't immediately taken him at his word was a good thing and spoke well of her intelligence.

He had told her he was a politician after all.

That she had already asked to emancipated was interesting and it showed that she knew enough about the Galaxy to know that just sitting around wasn't going to get her anything. She was trying to improve her own life but there was one difference between her just asking and him doing what needed to be done to get her emancipated.

"Yes you, a teenager, asked to be emancipated."
he noted with a small smirk, "Whereas I, a political figure with friends within different areas of government, will not be asking anything at all. I shall be giving instructions and they will either be followed or I will go higher up the chain until someone agrees."

Dirty business but it was his.

The idea of selling her to slavers though made him snort in amusement. She was a skinny twig of a teenager human girl with latent Force abilities - no slaver would pay decent money for her unless the Sith were actively buying them up. He'd not heard about that though... probably something to look into actually.

"You'd not fetch much on the open market."
he joked before shaking his head, "How about this; as part of the emancipation, we have a contract written up where you work for me doing odd-jobs and it's very clearly worded that I personally sponsor you. That way if you get sold my political career is over - and it's worth more to me than whatever the going rate is for a skinny teenager."


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Darth Tiamat

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He took her concern as amusement but Lyra still did not trust him. She did not doubt he knew how to pull strings to get what he wanted completed. He was present with notable individuals, he wouldn't be here if he didn't know how to navigate politics or cut deals that would lead him to accomplish his goals. And there were clearly things he could not do and needed an urchin like herself to do them for him. So what Lyra was curious to know what it is he would get from this since it was not simply from the goodness of his heart.

"If you're desperate for credits, you'll take whatever they give." she told him sitting up in seat.

"So who are you?" she asked, "A politician, yes, but what do you do?" she continued, closely watching him, making sure she did not miss anymore of his tricks. If he really did have the Force he most likely could trick her into believing something she didn't think was true or other weird power things she used to swamp with peers.

"What do you want me to do?" she questioned, her gaze glancing over her shoulder to see the supervisors relax some as she engaged in conversation with the man. Perhaps they thought she was lesser of threat because another adult was with her and she wouldn't try anything...alarming.

 

Carrick

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She wasn't wrong in that some people would be desperate enough for credits to sell her on to slavers or the Sith just because they needed whatever credits they could get. Fortunately for the both of them, Carrick wasn't hard up enough to consider it an option because it would be a very small payday. And he had enough to suit his lifestyle even working on Coruscant and other core planets - he'd sold a little bit of his soul to private interests to get that much freedom after all.

He just gave her a Look to give his opinion on that topic - did he look like he was hurting for credits? Not at all. On the topic of who he was? Well that was a question that actually had something to it.

"Carrick - former Jedi Knight, son of a wealthy Naboo family, currently in local government there but, as you may tell from me work here and Correlia, looking to branch out."
he admitted with a smile, "I'm looking to get elected to the senate and, luckily for me, there's no end of idiots currently holding their positions and some advantages I have over them."

Wishing he had a cup of coffee for this, Carrick decided on the level of honesty he wanted to indulge in with Lyra. In the end he decided the answer was to be rather brutally honest with her. That way she could never turn around and say he had gotten her involved without her knowing the extent of his intentions.

"Engage in political and corporate espionage on my behalf, with myself or other allies. Persuade certain individuals and companies to support my election."


This would be the part he would sip on some coffee - if he had some.

"And potentially accompany me on some treasure hunts - I like to collect Force-related artifacts from time to time. Any objections so far?"




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Darth Tiamat

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"It sounds like charity and I don't want to be charity. Or have to owe anyone for anything." she said before he could finish his added comment about treasure hunting. She let out a long, angsty teen sigh and leaned back in her seat, scanning the room again.

"Plus, I don't think I am charming enough to make people convinced to join you, let alone to believe what I have to say." she said, being honest about her own confidence in her ability to persuade others to listen to some scrawny teen such as herself. If they weren't convinced by his word, she wasn't sure how she would change the minds of others. She looked around getting a feel of the atmosphere; people were going in and out and seemed to be quite engaged with one other.

Lyra leaned forward, "Well, this was a great conversation Mr. Carrick." she said standing up and stretching, "I need to use the refresher." she said not waiting for him to reply, instead she was off, seemingly focused elsewhere. One would suspect as she said, to use the refresher, but as she passed one of the supervisors, she picked herself up a pass. A subtle passing of her hand as she squeezed between others and headed out the door in the direction of the refreshers.

She wouldn't stop, Carrick gave her the opportunity she would need to jump without relying on the charity of politicians.



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Carrick

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Ah teenagers.

If he could rely on only a few things across the Galaxy, across species-divides and more, it would be that teenagers were teenagers. They might have different colored skin or horns or tentacles but they all had the need, the thirst, to prove that they could conquer the Galaxy all on their own. He leaned back in the chair and let her speak her mind before deciding it was time to give her a last piece of advice before she left for the 'fresher'.

He used her name, picking it from the mind of one of her handlers.

"One last thing."
he held up a finger and eyed her seriously, "There is no such thing as charity, Lyra. Every living creature in the Galaxy owes debts to someone or something. To employers, to leaders, to the Republic or to their religion - but every, single, one of us has to accrue debts of some kind or another to make it in the Galaxy. The offer to be in mine, for a time, will remain open."

Then he did his best to ignore her as she made her daring escape.

It was only almost five minutes later, when one of the handlers finally asked if he would like a coffee that he spoke up.

"She left through the fresher window five minutes ago."


Letting her have a head start was just sporting, he thought.


/End Thread

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