The Accord: When Experiments Go WrongWrong

[Breeso]

​

There were many science laboratories in the Void, but most of them were not assigned to a single person. Except this one. This laboratory was assigned to Dr. Janseek Rhaid, a genial yet questionable scientist. And his lack of absence most certainly did not stop the lab for looking perfect. All equipment was clean and functional, everything stood in its place, yet... it felt dull and dead. Only thing that did not fit in was a big, metallic figure standing in one of the corners of the room. It was IG-0R, one of Dr. Rhaid's more disturbing experiments, trying to shut himself off. No matter how many functions did he shut off, he never managed to cease his neural activity. He always wondered why, and he did not want to ask, as he would be marked as a defunct droid. This made the unaware cyborg frustrated and angry.

After spending a few minutes trying to shut off, IG-0R gave up and turned his screen on again. He scanned the whole room. "Saddened examination: All equipment is in perfect condition. No maintenance required." his voice spread throughout the lifeless room. He concentrated on a button which opened up secret door which only he and Dr. Rhaid knew about. Maybe he should continue to work on Dr. Rhaid's... test subject... so when he returns, IG-0R would be rewarded. A smiley face displayed on his screen and he started moving towards the button.

(@Outlander , @Shalken , if anyone else needs to be tagged, please tag them)

 

[Outlander]

Dr. Rhaid's laboratory was located somewhat deep in the Void, away from much foot traffic, and with a wide space to work in. Fairly ideal for the scientist of the Accord. But Bria hadn't seen Rhaid in what felt like months, although it had likely only been a couple weeks. It wasn't unheard of for the Doctor to go off only to return with pallets of cargo days later. But it had never been this long. And he'd left IG-0R, his assistant/pet project, in the lab. In all likelyhood, he'd simply cut ties and run, but she had to know either way.

Bria went to tap on the door to the lab, but her closed hand met open air as the door whooshed open. Weird. Maybe IG-0R had opened it from the inside? She walked in, a chill running down her spine. Something about the lab put her on edge. She walked quietly, resisting the urge to pull out a weapon. She heard the faint voice of IG-0R coming from the lab.

She approached, looking around the corner into the main portion of the building. The Lab. The huge space was filled with equipment, experiments, prototypes, and various pieces of seemingly random supplies. But most interesting, on the far wall, IG-0R was pressing a button on the wall, revealing a sliding door hidden in the wall.

"IG-0R." Bria said, coming out fully into the space.

 

[Breeso]

IG-0R was determined to continue in the secret experiment. And he will be as subtle as Dr. Rhaid. Those fools in the Accord shall never find out what is sipping so much of their energy! Content with this thought and a smiley on his screen, he moved to the wall and pressed the button, revealing the secret door.
"IG-0R."(couldn't get the colour right) someone's familiar voice said behind him. Chills went down IG-0R's spin, but then he reminded himself that he has no proper spine some chills can run down. His monitor slowly turned in 180° degrees to "face" Bria as he pressed the button rapidly in an attempt to close the secret door, which, unfortunately, seemed to have jammed open.
"Greeting: Ms. Tsuani! The mean yet benevolent leader! Mannered telling away: You have come at an... unfortunate time into Dr. Rhaid's lab, but I can leave him a message from you if you want me to!"

 

[Outlander]

Bria inched into the lab, her main hand staying very close to her pistol. The droid was obviously trying to get her out of the lab, for the equally obvious reason of the secret door he was rapidly attempting to close. Who knew what experiments would be behind there, and who knew what Rhaid, or IG-0R, would do to keep that information secret.

"What's behind the door, IG-0R." She asked, voice dangerous.

 

[IG-0R]

Scanning Bria the whole time, IG-0R noticed a flinch of hostility in the air, a reflex inherited from his long forgotten detective days. He tilted his monitor on one side, which would almost make him look like an innocent and curious dog if it wasn't for his a bit creepy body structure and claw-like fingers he had on his hands. He tried to slowly and carefully extend his blaster from his shoulder, but it was jammed too as IG-0R never used it and Dr. Rhaid wasn't here to repair him when needed. He rather stood in front of the secret door, trying to cover them.

"Sidetracking answer: Just the... uh... love poems of Dr. Rhaid about your beautiful visual devices... I mean eyes..." IG-0R lied, his robotic voice starting to tremble a little.

 

[Outlander]

Was IG-0R... scared? She picked up the fair warble as he lied again, trying to sweet talk her into leaving it alone. She didn't know droids could feel fear, although she was suspecting more and more she had never known the true depths of Rhaid's experiments. Once all this was done, she'd make a priority of having IG-0R examined by the techs. Edging closer, she spoke again, voice low.

"Tell me the truth, IG-0R, and no harm will come to you, or Dr. Rhaid."

 

[IG-0R]

IG-0R tilted his head even more, tapping his claw-fingers on his robotic body, probably in nervosity. He thought about Bria's demand, and, once again, his "brilliant" detective and logical skills failed to provide him with a satisfactory answer. "Concerned query: Do you promise not to harm Dr. Rhaid?" he asked, but then lied without waiting another moment. "Request: Please, do not tell Dr. Rhaid, but those lyrically constructed works are actually of my doing." He unvoluntarily stepped back as she stepped closer. "Forced confession: I hid behind hostility to conceal my disgusting affection towards you." As he said that, he resisted making a disgusted face on his monitor. This was going very bad. Dr. Rhaid won't be pleased when he returns... if he returns. IG-0R decided not to enlarge that seed of doubt, as it terrified him more than anything, even Bria's threats.

 

[Outlander]

Bria opted to ignore the strange remarks about love poems. Although, even in the tense moments of a standoff, the droids quirks where very amusing.

"No, IG-0R. I won't hurt Dr. Rhaid." That was only half a lie. Rhaid's punishment would fit his crimes. If it was just an experiment he was keeping out of sight because it was big or used up more power than he was allowed, she would even let the Void security deal with him. But if this went as deep as she was starting to suspect... It would be better if they never ran into the man again.

 

[IG-0R]

Satisfied with Bria's reply, IG-0R stopped trying to prepare his blaster. Content, he stepped aside so Bria could pass and read his love poetry. With his way of words, she would most surely fall for him and shower him with desire of affection. But wait, he realised. There is no love poetry and I do not love Tsuani. IG-0R forgot that his lie is just a lie. What has he done? He can't step back to forbid her access from Dr. Rhaid's largest secret project. Letters D'OH appeared on his screen, then a little animation oh a nuclear warhead with Rhaid's face plummeting into a stick figure that was probably IG-0R, destroying it completely. IG-0R couldn't help it. Fear that suddenly surrounded him felt so cold... even colder than his body. It felt... empty...

 

[Outlander]

Bria nodded, approaching IG-0R and the secret door. She quirked an eye as the graphic appeared on IG-0R's... face? She couldn't be sure, but he seemed depressed somehow. She continued, staying a few feet back from the droid and looking inside the new alcove. It looked like the it was carved out of the rock, not natural, probably put there by the miners before them. Strange they hadn't mapped this one out though. Maybe Rhaid had done it himself? Either way, the tunnel lead down at a slope, deeper into the asteroid, with crude lighting fixtures hanging at regular intervals along the rough walls.

 

[IG-0R]

IG-0R followed Bria, sad and terrified. There was no going back, only forward. He would think of something, at least he hoped so. He had to. Otherwise... big trouble. IG-0R looked... er, scanned around the tunnel. He carved it out himself. Dr. Rhaid couldn't due to his medical condition. However, this was no easy work and IG-0R still remembered how his hands (?) hurt weeks after the tunnel was done. But it was worth it and IG-0R didn't intend to let it all be ruined by a woman stricter than Republic's view on those Sith fellows to their east. IG-0R slowly raised his right hand, prepared to warp his claw-like fingers around Bria's neck. But he couldn't do this to his love interest. You have no love interest, he reminded himself. But her disappearance would raise quite a few questions... plus, Dr. Rhaid wouldn't appreaciate a corpse in his own laboratory. So he put the hand down again with a word "SIGH" appearing on his monitor.

 

[Outlander]

She continued down the tunnel system, IG-0R following behind her. As they proceeded forward, wires and tubes began to make themselves apparent from the walls, hooking into jury rigged data nodes placed in recessed alcoves. "The Initiative." She said, her breath low as she realized where they where coming from. High power transceivers on the surface of the asteroid, primarily restricted to use by the Initative in their upkeep of the incoming data from the outside. Rhaid had tapped into them and funneled them down into his secret workspace. But why?

After what felt like an hour of walking, the tunnel peeled out, the rock face fitted with steel plates and sealant leading into an airlock. Prefabricated, one of the same ones they used on the external rim, but it didn't show any atmosphere on the other side, meaning she'd found his real lab at last.

She thumbed the keypad, but the display flashed at her. It was already unlocked.

This wasn't good. None of this felt right. Removing the sidearm from its holster, she steadied it at the door while her other hand reached over to hit the keypad. she swallowed once, then slapped the button, the door flying open to either side as she combat rolled inside, scanning side to side as she came up, already searching for targets.

"Oh...." She let out, finally registering what was in the room. "Oh my."

Tubes, raised high into the ceiling, filled with what appeared to be Bacta and some sort of... organisms. Tables of machinery and experiments. Wall to wall technology. And bodies. Bodies in cages and on tables. Grotesque displays of scientific malice. Overwhelmed by it all, she leaned over, dry heaving. What kind of monster had she harbored?

 

[IG-0R]

IG-0R tried to gulp as they approached the secret lab known only to him and dr. Rhaid, but he couldn't. He then realized he couldn't breathe and started making choking noises until he realised that he had no throat. Still a bit confused about the situation, IG-0R watched in terror as Bria opened the lab and stepped in, a look of terror on her face as well. This was why they were stationed here all the time for, their secret project, the most promising specimen. And now, it is all exposed, and is about to be destroyed by this woman. This dry heaving, weak and full of liquids meatbag with a terrible fashion sense. That haircut would get slandered tremendously on Chandrila and IG-0R knew it. However, putting fashion tastes aside for another time, he knew that now was the time for action. He needed to cover this whole situation. He tilted his monitor on side a little before his voice broke the air of this morbid scene. "Blatant lie: Apologies, I have not the slightest idea of where did all this come from. It was not here the last time I was in here." Nailed it, he thought to himself, satisfied.

 

[Outlander]

Bria half turned to IG-0R pulling herself back to her feet with the help of one of the more clean tables. Of course he would know about all this; he and Rhaid had been almost inseparable. But something about the droid's almost lighthearted tone ate at her. There will be time for that later, she thought, finally feeling a bit more stable. For now, they needed to figure out the extend of Rhaid's research.

The lab itself was very large, with areas she could see leading behind the tubing and farther into the deep rock of the asteroid. It was with a grim sort of observation that this would have been a very cozy little cavern, the walls streaked with different minerals and flakes of ore gleaming off the work lights, if not for the corpses and machinery. On the fair side, roughly centered between the two walls of tubing, and the blinking light of an active session drew her attention.

The screen activated as her hand passed near it, chittering with activity. Journal entries, data logs, untold raw information. It would take weeks to sift it all out. Two files did catch her immediate attention.

LOG:xx-01-IG-0R
--
LOG:xx-09-LURTZ

"IG-0R." She said, tapping the file index and watching the readouts. "Did you have access to Dr. Rhaid's files?"

 

[IG-0R]

It was indeed very nice in here, IG-0R made sure of that. Rhaid didn't give a bantha's ass about aesthetics, but IG-0R was pleased every time he saw it. The morbid scenery of dead bodies did not seem to ruin IG-0R's enjoyment of the scenery. That was during easy times, though. Now he had this blonde love interest, uh, he means annoyance snooping around. Not even his amazingly subtle lying and misleading skills could prevent her from discovering this lab. "Offended answer: Of course I have access to Dr. Rhaid's files. I am his most trusted assistant, his right hand, butter to his toast, peasants to his crops..." he said, but then stopped himself. He accidentally implied that he knew about this. "No." he quickly added, almost as if shrinking in fear.

 

[Outlander]

Bria only half listened to the droid as he went on, her eyes looking back and forth across the log files. She wasn't sure why they weren't locked; perhaps due to the doctor's overconfidence in his security? It couldn't have been in the droid's ability to lie. And the overconfidence part surely matched the man. Although, she reminded herself morbidly that she hadn't known him that well considering the destruction he'd reaped.

Her eyes widened as the log finished, and she looked back slowly to the droid behind her, filled with new insight. His behavioral quirks, strange habits, it was all making sense.

"What... is your first memory?" She asked, trying to figure out if he even knew.

 

[IG-0R]

IG-0R's monitor tilted to the side even more. Why did the organic suddenly take interest in his past? Perhaps his supreme seductive skills worked with the combination of his positive affection poetry. Whatever it was, he intended to lead her on on this distraction. "Nostalgic reminiscence: Why, it was when dr. Rhaid first activated me, slowly after constructing me, of course! Oh, praise the creator, for that day was the happiest day of my life! Continuation: I remember as if it was yesterday when I first opened my... uh... camera." IG-0R wasn't shrinking again as he was happy, a smiley face appeared on his display and it almost seemed as if he was to start joyfully hopping around gracefully, which would be for a being of his weight quite impressive and disastrous.

 

[Outlander]

She pursed her lips, trying to think of how to handle the situation. She wasn't a mechanic, or a biologist for that matter, so the technical ramifications where beyond her area of expertise. But, from her own moral standings, he had to know the truth, regardless of the consequences. It was just the right thing to do. So, that's what she'd do.

"Here." She said, motioning him towards the console. "You should really read this log."

Nothing else really needed to be said, so she moved out of his way off to the side, examining several of the experiments present. She did not envy the Initiative who had to catalogue everything. it was experimentation like this that caused their own schism in the first place.

 

[IG-0R]

IG-0R kept "looking" at Bria curiously, then shifted his attention at the console, connecting to it. A quick search and he found the file log Bria had currently opened, and began reading. As he read on, he kept getting closer to the console. All his functions, all experiments Dr. Rhaid exacted on him, all... information. Scrolling on top and then finding Rhaid's journal, he began reading it as well.

"10,004 BBY, 12th day of the 7th galactic sweep,

Dammit, dammit, dammit! My experiments were discovered! Through genetical engineering, I have managed to create a breed of giant mantises I like to call 'Acklay'. However, I am afraid I will not go much farther as there is that damned detective snooping around. And I have so much to do! The Acklay are very hostile and aggressive, they will require a chip of obedience implanted in their brains.

10,004 BBY, 20th day of the 7th galactic sweep,

I have managed to create a device that can influence the minds of living beings. However, it is too big and impractical for use on the Acklay. What's more, I think that detective managed to find a lead that leads straight to my hideout. Come on, just a little longer...

10,004 BBY, 25th day of the 7th galactic sweep,

That fool... he believed he could outsmart me... ME! It is true that he discovered my hideout, but I am always ten steps ahead! While he was stumbling around like an idiot, I set up the perfect trap. The right distraction, the bait... and soon, he was locked in a room with a hungry Acklay. Had hard time getting him out of there, but somehow, he managed to survive... only better for me. The bastard will pay for his impudence.

10,004 BBY, 5th day of the 8th galactic sweep,

It is done. A little upgrade to the mind-influential device, some spare parts I have left in here and a nice little memory wipe... of a nice, little, pink brain that once tried to stop my scientific advancement. Now he became part of it. Codenamed IG-0R, he will serve as my assistant, thinking that he is a droid. However, I think he gave the local law enforcement my location before venturing out to meet his fate at my hands... I must move. The Acklay that survived will be released into the wilds. While IG-0R is not what I was looking for, he is certainly a step up above anything else. I need to find a new hideout... perhaps protection from another group enforcing law could be arranged, if my experiments went unnoticed?"

IG-0R stopped reading there. A red light started beeping on his screen, but he did not bother to turn it off, whatever it was. After a second of thinking, IG-0R imported all the files into his hard drive (brain?), then proceeded to delete Rhaid's journal from the console's computer. This is not true. Dr. Rhaid is a good person who created him, not a monster. Leaving the other files intact, like the one about IG-0R himself, he turned around and stared at Bria, his red light turning on and off again. "Assessment: This is clearly a humorous anecdote," he said, his voice not sounding humorous at all. "Of course I am not some silly meatbag. Oh, Dr. Rhaid, you never cease to humour us..."

 

[Outlander]

"IG-0R." Bria started again, forcing the word out somewhat. His entire demeanor had changed, and something about him seemed... dangerous? No, that wasn't right. Intense. he knew what he had read; knew it was true. And, for the first time she recalled, he had lied. Actually lied. No preface of his real intentions or hidden anxieties. That bothered her more than anything else, at least concerning him.

"What is your first memory?"​