Underground (Under Where???)

[Oddi Xon]

Coruscant Underworld

Location: Level 1313- Artful Alley
Time: Early evening​

One of the very few things that Oddi missed about her home world Zolan was that every night you could look up to the sky and see the celestial wonders that adorned the vast black canvas that was the universe.

Unfortunately, with the bright city lights and visual noise that polluted the atmosphere of this ecumenopolis, it was not to be on Coruscant. Especially if you were brazen or foolish enough to brave the Underground, and especially if you were fool enough to tread foot on Level 1313. And yet, here she was… a vagabond in search of knowledge that was out of her reach simply because she was supposedly “a homeless child”. Although she was literate and quite brilliant for a former wasteland bumpkin-slave, she was painfully aware of her naivety when it came to the ways of the galaxy in general. Not to mention that there was one thing in particular that she wanted to know more about above all others… that ability that she seemed to possess that set her apart from most. But trying to find decent information was proving problematic. Sure, there were libraries, but when she had attempted to use those she was denied entry because she “needed adult supervision”. She returned in the guise of a chadra-fan but was denied entry again because they could tell she was homeless and “did not permit sleeping in the library”.

What a bunch a’ stuck-up classist sticks-in-the-swamp! was her thought at the time.

Fine. If she couldn’t get her learning in at the library itself, then maybe she could find the means to hack their reference files. But because hacking wasn’t exactly her forte as of yet, she would need a bit of assistance. She needed a port scanner. Hence, why she was treading cautiously down Artful Alley, Coruscant’s epicenter for black market merchandise. She had managed to gather a good chunk of credits in a variety of ways… ranging from hustling the card sharks to playing her kloo horn on any random street corner and even some generous handouts here and there. Plus, she could trade in the datapad that she had acquired by “unscrupulous means”. (She was planning on gathering parts for building a computer anyway once she made her way to Level 1782.)

It took a good forty-five minutes before she found a particularly promising makeshift shop next to the speeder part stand (which was also interesting to her). She kept a sharp eye out for anything that might resemble a port scanner in this jumbled mess of tech merchandise. There were bypass components, motherboards, datasticks, high-quality datapads that were likely fenced (she would know), Holonet viewers, electronics tools of all sorts…

And then she saw it. A port scanner. One. Solitary. Port scanner. Her eyes eagerly zeroed in on the device as if she suddenly possessed tunnel vision. Other than a slight knick on the surface it was totally intact. She glanced up to look for the merchants but they were speaking with another customer. Instead, her eyes met with those of a gammorean, who was obviously hired to make sure that there was no merchandise “shrinkage”. Oddi wasn’t stupid. She knew that the last thing anyone should do is attempt to shoplift in the black market, or else they would risk banishment, forced labor, brutal manhandling, or even a blastershot. Still… she found his presence quite intimidating.

At last, the merchant completed the transaction with the previous customer and made his way over to Oddi. “Yeah? How can I help you littl’ uns?”

Littl’ uns? As in, plural?

Despite the confusing greeting, Oddi wasted no time. Immediately, she blurted out, “How much for that port scanner???”

But wait… that sounded strange, almost like there were two voices asking about the port sca…

Oddi turned to her right and found herself eye-to-eye with, of all things, a jawa.

A jawa??? Here??? On Coruscant??? was her first thought… and the second one was, Aw kriff!!! He wants th’ scanner too!!! Noooooo way!!! I got dibs!!!

She eyed him carefully. She had a sinking feeling that she had a haggling challenge coming.

@ Caught In Strangereal

 

[Funani Avanti]

"How much for that port Scanner???

Wait what? Funani looked to his left and saw himself eye to eye with a yellow humanoid (Who the... what the...). He never even saw this species before and while learning about all of the species that walked the galaxy was neat and all that wasn't the issue of the day right now. That beautiful, genuine slightly used port scanner was.

Funani had been looking around but got tired of all of the crappy cheaply made tourist trash that littered all of the planets in core space. Sure that stuff was easy to find plus initially quaint and all but funani was getting bored with the safe parts of core region imperial space. The droning propaganda holos, the news casters that forced smiles and the uppity pricks that all acted like they were the most important beings in the galaxy. Also the holoshows oh kriff the holoshows. He was convinced that if he heard a second more of that stupid reality show about emperor getting a girlfriend he would personally track down the all staff and do... do... something ok something! So Funani had talked to guy who knew a guy who's cousin twice removed had visited the black market and pointed Funani on his way.

The black market was exciting. Funani had been to quite a few illicit markets on Tatooine but those were like much of Tatooine: Leaving a lot to be desired. Funani wanted to see how the rich people held black markets. Of course Funani both had a completely different standard for what wealth was compared to most people and had yet to receive a crash course on economic differences in cost of living. Still the market was a treasure trove with more sellers than there were products on Tatooine and Funani had eyed a delicious port scanner. These little pieces of kit would be perfect for spicing up his galactic sight seeing tour due to the possibilities it could open. Access databases that no one would let him touch. Hack the holosigns to say things that would embarass the shop owners and people around Coruscant. Hack the bar droid to give him a discount on booze. Attach it to a droid and program a hacking subroutine so you can have a walking robotic slicer butler (a slicler?) Or use it to penetrate the source code of a droid and start working on that bootleg hunter killer protocol he always wanted to try out. (It was a secret, never to be fulfilled dream of Funani's to have access to an entire armies worth of liberated murderdroids).

The opportunities were endless but here was This person who just had to mess with things. No this wasn't going to happen Funani wasn't going to miss out on this. Funani shifted into trader mindset and went to battle.

Fifty credits starting offer!

 

[Oddi Xon]

Oddi couldn’t believe her ears. A measly fifty credits for a port scanner? Was this jawa kidding???

The human merchant gave Funani an incredulous look, as did Oddi. “Uh… I appreciate your enthusiasm,” he explained, “but it’s two hundred credits.”

Now Oddi looked at the merchant incredulously. Was he kidding???

“Two hund’erd??? Now come on, anyone wit’ eyes in their head can clearly see that th’ dang thing’s damaged!” She pointed out the minor scratch. “Now if it was new then I could see yer case!” There was no way in Zolander hell that she was going to let this other tinker-tot beat her to this. She needed this!

The merchant squinted down at Oddi. “How old are you???”

Oddi felt her blood pressure rise just a little. This again??? She took in a calming breath. “Older than I look, an’ I’d appreciate it, sir, if you consider that dwarfism ain’t no myth.” That part was actually true. Oddi was very short for a clawdite due to a genetic trait. Never mind that she was only fifteen and still, technically, a teenager. Did the merchant need to know that bit? Nope.

Very well… if the jawa was going to make such a low offer than she might as well play along. It could force the merchant to go a lot lower. Puffing out her chest to project confidence, she retorted. “Sixty creds, then! Yeh gotta consider depreciation, good sir!”

 

[Funani Avanti]

Two hundred! This guy really thinks he can rope that out of me he's mad! Funani momentarily forgot about his haggle rival to gaff at the trader's offer. The nerve to offer that. The Tatooine standard was to start low and upsell. Most people couldn't afford to buy at the price you asked for it's worth so you got creative. Start low offer the warranty, the standard check up, reduced repair cost should anything go wrong and spread it out, but these hoity-toity types aparently lost the grace of luring the customer in.

The brief exchange about the beings age piqued Funani's interest so he took a better look at his rival. The attire was classic street rat with a wild array of assembled clothes of varying quality and fit on the small being. She certainly had what looked like young features if you judged them next to a human but Funani was well aware how frustrating humanocentrism was to deal with especially when everyone called you a midget, even though any sensible Jawa knew you were average. Anyone who called Funani that got filed away under R for Revenge in his head. Sure this person may even be young but street rats either grow up fast or starve and were used to fighting over every scrap. Just the way life was when you have next to nothing. She probably knew a bit about working the haggle maybe even pulled the 'I need to buy food' card at some point. Maybe he could use this person to play hardball.

"She's hasa point. How do I know that this is primo? You know, I know and she knows that these things aren't well looked upon. If I am goin to have one in my robe then I need to know that this puppy is krayt proof! Then She be a fine 200 but for now I'm goin to only give ya 65. Gotta think about risk."

Still another thing ran through his mind. The trader had power ultimately if two people were fighting over the same thing. He could try to outbid the girl but doing so could backfire, a Two hundred credit sale could become 300 if you got too caught up in trying to outbid the other. So he would need to figure out a way to prevent that.

 

[Oddi Xon]

Looking the jawa up and down, Oddi realized that she wasn’t going to be able to read any facial expressions or posturing, as it was all covered up by his little brown robe. And how would one figure out their feelings by looking into their glowing eyes??? How did that even work anyway? She snapped herself out of her ponderings when she realized that she was wondering if someone had ever dissected one for study. That’s a dark thought, Oddi. Fair, but dark. Back to business.

She had to admit, though, that he might’ve been on to something when he bid that low. It seemed she had underestimated her new rival. Okay, jawa. Game on.

She continued her haggle with the merchant. “I’d be willin’ to pay ‘bout seventy fer that. It’s a fair price, sir. An’ it’d be for a good cause. You like causes, right? You seem like a generous sort a’ man.” she cajoled him. The humanitarian route sometimes worked with these humans. I mean, it had the word human in it, right?

The merchant eyed her skeptically. “And what’s your cause?”

Oddi stood up straight. “My education!” she stated matter-of-factly. And when it came right down to it, that was an honest answer.

The merchant, who was middle aged and a bit on the heavy side, seemed surprised by this unusual answer for how this device was going to be utilized. Then he burst out laughing. “And here I thought that you were going to claim that you were gonna swipe some money and hand it out to the poor! So why use a scanner? Why can’t you just use the library?”

Oddi gave him the “you have no idea” stare. “Been there. Tried that. Sore subject.” She stared him right in the eye, unflinchingly. “Look, I ain’t lyin’. I want th’ same chances as anyone on this star-forsaken planet. But if yer not gonna take my needs seriously or my seventy credits, I may just take my business elsewhere.” She shrugged nonchalantly as she pulled out her datapad and started to feign texting something. She hoped that he might take interest in the datapad as part of payment, but she wasn’t about to offer it… yet.

The merchant eyed the pad but wasn’t quite ready to take the bait, although he couldn’t resist a small smirk. “One hundred and eighty,” he proposed.

 

[Funani Avanti]

Oh quick to play dirty eh? Funani's suspicions about the being's street rat background were all confirmed there. Playing on someone's good will and hoping that the person's shame and satisfaction of helping someone will over power their greed. It was a killer move Funani knew that because it worked on him several times. Once someone plays the think of my future card you had to be careful. Continuing the haggle just made you look like a massive hkeek nkulla which just meant that you were more likely to be kicked out then get a sale so he would have to create an angle. Still the one positive at least was that the initial barrier for getting the price lowered was broken, now the game really began.

"I don't know about what yer trying to learn but maybe I could give you a chance? I'm a self made Jawa. Ran my own business at 15, a one man operation that did all kinds of salvaging, repairs, droid reprogramming the works. Paid my way out of that Ra'ti hole Tatooine doing that stuff. Give me tape and a hydrospanner and I could make any dooka look brand new."

Funani left a pause so that he could catch a breath and read the room. The merchant so far seemed disinterested in his self made Jawa pitch but he had a gut feeling for what may work on him.

"And I could do a lot with that scanner. Tinker with it a bit and you could do more than just hack a network. I could use that to get straight to the source code of a droid. Then you can do some nifty things, small tweaks really. Like running a few bypasses *whispers* maybe make a HK. Heck maybe you can even help me with selling because you clearly know this place better than I do.

The Merchant's eyes raised to look at Funani and a clear feeling of interest was all over his face. Most droids were mandated by the Empire to be incapable of engaging in combat but that didn't stop people from running illegal bypasses of those protocols. It was a popular upgrade. Then there was the HK which was practically mythical, the original HK modules were destroyed and their existence denied so suddenly if one were to crop up...

"What did you just say?" The merchant replied, Funani was now sporting a devilish smile that no one could see under his robes.

"Oh nothing, just I could use that to make some 'customizations' you can't normally do with droids, and that you could help me sell them. If I were to do that well then I could be in need of a assistant and give this lucky lady the chance she needs." Funani then turned his head over to his rival with a smug grin.

"What do you think 'bout this?"

 

[Oddi Xon]

Oddi was stunned. Was he… was this jawa offering her a job???

Sure, she really wanted that port scanner. Sure, she had her mind dead-set on purchasing this highly-in-demand item to help her get a leg-up in life. But if she had a job, she could purchase one full-price, she could buy clothes that would make her look presentable enough to be let into places without stares and sneers, and who knows… maybe she could purchase a speeder? After learning how to drive one, of course. And… she could have access to all the information she wanted. It was a more gradual road, but who knows? Maybe with more experience she could start building her own port sca…

THAT’S IT!!! A light bulb turned on in Oddi’s head. Maybe this game didn’t need to be played against anyone. Maybe, just maybe, they could all come out winners.

She turned to the jawa. “May I have a private word with you over here?” She gestured to the merchant. “We’ll be right back.” Then she ushered the jawa away from the stand. “I’ll make a deal with you,” she whispered enthusiastically. “You want that scanner fer your droid work… an’ by th’ way, that’s a brilliant concept… I was mostly gonna use it to dig up information. Now, th’ main thing that I’m tryin’ to learn about I don’t think you can teach me. However… I do need more experience than what I experienced back at my home planet, an’ I most certainly need a job. So how ‘bout we pool our resources? You get ta’ keep the port scanner but I get ta’ crack it open and see how it’s put together. Then I can figure out what I need, head up to th’ junk level, find th’ parts, and jury-rig my own? That way, you get a scanner an’ an assistant, and I learn how to build a scanner, get my learnin’ on, an’ have a job! An’ this shopkeeper gets his fair compensation too. We’d all get what we wanted, an’ better… right???” She crossed her fingers, hoping that he might see the potential for a future partnership in technology.

 

[Funani Avanti]

Oh kriff. Funani had an uncanny way for talking his way into trouble and this was case in point. Case in karking point. Truth be told it had been forever since he had ran a bypass on a droid and he knew only the vaguest ideas beyond writing a Hunter-Killer personality complex. He was just fast talking his way to a discount doing what it took to get every credit out of the deal. Now he had offered a job and a business proposition to two people he barely knew. Still he had to be impressed with the girl's initiative. She saw an opportunity and went for it head first. It reminded him a lot of himself when he was younger and had to take over the business. He realized what he needed to do and did it.

He had to respect her, being able to go from heated trade rival to potential partner and his gut was telling him to say yes.

"Ok I'll be honest with you. I wasn't expecting this. Now I've never had an employee before, always was a one man operation so it might be rough at first. Don't know what to pay ya, but I'll offer you a even split on any sale we make. Now if we do this I'll let you take the scanner apart but I want to watch you do it. Make sure you know your way around a hydrospanner and delicate circuitry. Also your taking me to the junk level. It's probably a loaded cornucopia compared to anything I ever saw on Tatooine and I need to get my hands on a droid so I can show the merchant I'm not full of Ra'ti. Plus it'll be a perfect test bed for a bypass. I've done them before but it's been a while. Finally and be straight with me. Is there anyone around who you pissed off? Are you wanted? You have any outstanding debts? I have personally had experience with lengths some people will go and if theres anyone looking for you i want to know." There was a pause and then Funani realized that he would need to clarify his last.

"I don't care if you got into a brawl, been a klepto or you have a pissed off boyfriend somewhere in the galaxy. I don't care. I'm talking more about the looking to kill or beat the crap out of you variety. Because other than that I think we have a deal."

 

[Oddi Xon]

Pissed off boyfriend?

Oddi was both amused and bemused by the jawa’s response… especially the boyfriend part. “Hey, I used ta’ be a bonafide slave to a fencin’ operation back on Zolan. That’s th’ school of hard knocks right there. I had ta’ know how ta’ learn the circuitry of new tech on the spot or I’d get a whoopin’. So yeah, you’ll see some circuitry work in action, as long as I can get my hands on th’ right tools. An’ I’ll certainly take ya to Level 1782. But I gotta warn ya… I hear it stinks somethin’ awful.” Then she stroked her chin as she considered his question about being “wanted” or generally on somebody’s *bleep* list. “I ain’t seen my name on any wanted lists, but then again, not many know my name to begin with, not to mention that they might have a hard time identifyin’ me in the first place. Although… I may want to avoid some houks in th’ Uscru district, jus’ in case.” She then realized that the jawa probably had no idea what she meant by that “identifying” crack. “Uh… you’ll figure out my meanin’ soon enough. So… yeah. We got a deal.” She gave his hand a quick shake.

She turned back around, only to see a sluissi talking shop with the merchant. Uh-oh… guess what he seemed to be interested in?

“We’ll offer you one hund’erd and twenty credits for that scanner!” she blurted out as she rushed back, almost forgetting to let go of the jawa’s hand. “Oops! Sorry!” She pulled out her portion of credits and waited on the jawa.

The sluissi held up his hands to signal that he was giving up as he slid aside. “I’m out.”

 

[Funani Avanti]

A slave, even the capital is not free of this crap. Funani wasn't expecting to hear that. His mind flashed to some of the indentured servants that couldn't make it on their own in Tatooine... the way they carried themselves just existing on nothing else. Funani felt a flare up of anger at the mere thought of it. He grew up in a world were that could of been him toiling away in a dooka house being worked to the bone for nothing as someone profited from him. He now felt a new determination to see what she could do. He was probably one of the few people to even give her a chance. He returned the hand shake to Oddi.

"Funani Avanti and your na-" Funani was cut off by Oddi shouting an offer to the merchant. Funani then saw the sluissi talking to the merchant. Oddi then nearly started to drag Funani off before she left go apologizing for nearly taking off his arm.

Hmm isn't that funny? Funani wondered as the actions of Oddi reminded him of how his mother was with his Dad when they got into a heated discussion over a barter. It made him smile for a bit only for it to be undercut with the reminder that his parents were dead missing. Times like this he was happy that nobody could see his face.

Funani gathered his share of the credits and walked over to purchase the port scanner. He was curious how his new partnership would turn out. Who knows maybe he'll finally have a friend.

 

[Oddi Xon]

“One fifty?” The merchant made it sound more like a question than a haggling offer. To be honest, he found the clawdite to be a little too… what was the word… exuberant?

Oddi narrowed her eyes. “One thirty!”

The merchant narrowed his eyes back. “One forty.”

Oddi slapped the credits down on the table. “DEAL!”

The merchant grabbed the credits, tossed the port scanner into a bag, and practically shoved it into Oddi’s hands. “Here you go… and maybe see that vendor over there about purchasing a sedative? Have a nice day.”

She saluted the man. “If I was on a sedative I’d be S.O.L. with that port scanner! Come on, Fumari… Fumagi… Fungaly… what was it again? Anyway, th’ portal is over there. We can catch a transport up to th’ junkyard.” She walked as she waved the jawa to follow, then she gave herself a facepalm and turned back to the jawa. “Ai Mabara… you was tryin’ to introduce yourself before! Sorry… I’m such a laserbrain! I’m Oddi. Oddi Xon. Um, can ya please say your name again? I sure as hell know I ain’t got it right.” She knew how hyper she sounded as she hoped she wasn’t scaring him off like the merchant, but she hadn’t been this excited since she found herself a free clawdite.

 

[Funani Avanti]

"Funani...Fu-na-ni. Funani avanti. I'm not trying to be insulting just not many people out tatooine get the name... and well it's fine dont wor... um nice to meet you Oddi...we should go" Funani was breaking down in awkwardness right now. In all his years he mainly just had malfunctioning droids and vendors to talk to. Now here was this excited person he just met who actually seemed to be happy and excited because of well him.. and Funani had no idea what to do with this. He was mainly overwhelmed with the feeling that he had just made someone happy for once. Now he suddenly felt something that he only felt when his parents were around. The need to do right by someone. She was his employee now and by kark he was going to make sure that she would turn out alright.

 

[Oddi Xon]

Oddi closed her eyes as if she was downloading a file into her brain. “Funani Funani Funani… Funani Avanti. Okay, got it!” She snapped her fingers. “Let’s go!”

She led Funani down a few streets and across a bridge over to the portal, which was teaming with all sorts of shifty characters. She kept a steady grip on her pouch and pack. “Watch your pockets here,” she warned him. She found a platform lined with public transports and found one heading upwards. “Come on! We’ll squeeze onto that one!”

They just barely made it into the transport, with the door nearly catching Funani’s cloak as it closed. The transport shot upward with a jolt… there was no steady climb, and Oddi couldn’t help but get butterflies in her stomach. She couldn’t tell if it was a slight case of motion sickness or if she was feeling as if she had just found a fast track to a new chapter in her life. Either way, she knew she had found quite a unique character in Funani. This opportunity showed promise… and as long as it didn’t stand in the way of learning about that Force stuff, she had a good feeling here.

Maybe, for once, trouble wouldn’t follow along with her.… maybe…

==End Thread==​

((Story continues at this link- http://www.thestarwarsrp.com/forum/index.php?threads/oddi-funani-the-junkyard-debacle.90393/))