Log:Tamsin Cas: Welcome to the Real
Cake, definately cake.
OOC Date: October 28, 2020
Location: Nar Shaddaa
Participants: Malik Ren, Tamsin Cas
[Tamsin Cas]
Even a few days later, it was all hands to the wheel. Tamsin remembered what sleep was. She had slept. Possibly once, before she entered school. Never again. Ah, but those were thoughts to think when there was no work to be done. "Yes, here. We can get them loaded and down to the rest of the districts." She was still in the same clothes she had touched down in, though from their slightly wrinkled appearance, if anyone managed to get close enough, it looked as though she's had to do a wash and air dry over the refresher curtain bar to make them serviceable again. This did not seem to concern her. Only the pallets of supplies being unloaded from the freighter she was standing beside, a small cluster of dock workers waiting with her.
[Malik Ren]
All manner of strange, dark people on all manner of strange, dark missions call the Smuggler's Moon home -- every type of galactic flotsam and jetsam, sentient and object both, moves through these ports. Dangerous, harmless, everything between. Mysterious figures in hooded cloaks are a dime a dozen in a landscape like this, as all sorts of people make use of the weather protection and anonymity provided by a shadowy cowl!
Nonetheless, every now and then, one stands out.
Human, not tall. Nothing physically imposing about this person. Yet the man walking among the freighters and the cargo chaos at the starport seems to have a different aspect about himself, somehow, and crowds tend to subtly move out of his way rather than force him to shove through. Just something about him. Just something that seems to suggest most folk don't want to kriff around and find out.
This is of course Malik Ren, and he is wandering among freighters and their business as though searching for someone, or something. One is inspected... something about it isn't right, on to the next. Several times, until he arrives at the ship where Tamsin Cas is working, and there he pauses, peering up-down-up and then eventually settling his gaze on the Firrerreo herself. No attempt is made to pretend subtlety, this is an open inspection.
[Tamsin Cas]
All manner of dark missions by people of darker intent indeed. And perhaps that was what made Tamsin seem such a bright, glaring spot in the gaggle of mixed species dock workers she had found herself in. Her expression was pleasant, her tone was encouraging, and her words, bearing an accent that was just odd enough to 'not from anywhere around here' were kind, rather than harsh. Of course, this was Hutt Space, and perhaps it was all of that come together that caused the looks askance she received from the workers. Moreso when she reached out to help with the unloading herself. Was kind even a word? Not in any dictionary on this moon. "This is the last." Tamsin reached out to filch the manifest, "Bound for Ko Hentota. That's--" Except she had no idea where that was. "You can get there, can't you?" She offered to the verpine who was at the wheel of the cargo hauler. The verpine who looked both pityingly and slightly terrified at either the woman or her prospects. "I know." Tamsin nodded, a smile offered as she stepped away. No more pity. Now the verpine simply looked terrified. He was bound to get out while the getting got good. All that good cheer might rub off.
[Malik Ren]
The watcher folds his arms, and observes a moment longer. Cheery. This one is CHEERY. Well.. not the first, though it is surprising. Malik waits until the business is conducted with the offloading and the instructing of the Verpine, and as Tamsin steps away, he decamps from his position to step toward her. His voice is civil, quite polite, and Coruscanti in a way that sounds like power, like money.
"I've been looking for you."
[Tamsin Cas]
Once the transport departed, Tamsin. Well. It was not that she deflated, so much as she simply seemed to be, suddenly, so much less 'herself', as though that cheerfulness had a switch she could turn on when it was necessary and off again when it was not. It was like watching someone whom you had not known was wearing a mask, pull it off to show the face beneath. It was the bright cheerleader Malik had approached. It was the competent, no-nonsense doctor that turned to face the man approaching her. "I'm sorry, yes? Am I needed back in triage?" She did not seem put off either by the accent nor by the darkness of the clothing. Useful thing. Kept the rain off. And she was used to robes.
[Malik Ren]
"Not the one you're thinking of, no." Malik beckons, and starts to step away. "Come with me, please?" Again, civil, polite in all respects -- but there's durasteel in the polite suggestion which suggests it is not at all a request. He's headed towards a different section of the starport, a different section of hangars, and takes a moment to study her. "What is your name, girl?" Seems strange to ask if she's the one he's looking for, but she's asked nonetheless. "Answer with care, it doesn't matter to me if you tell the truth or not, but it will be what I call you from this point forward."
[Tamsin Cas]
"I'm sorry, just a moment." It was an apology that was not one, as Tamsin stepping over to a freight loader which was in obvious state of disrepair, grabbing up the bag she had left there. Turned away from the man in dark robes, her face fell. She was //exhausted//. But she was no more likely to show that than she was to admit it. She had more backbone than that. And when she turned back, there was no trace of it in her expression. "I'm afraid I haven't had a chance to refresh my supplies as I'd like," because that was the sort of thing people cared about with doctors, wasn't it? The question she took in her stride, as she did the precise and measured way he lead her through the starport. It was not as though she expected anyone here of all places to know who she was, "I am not certain why there would be any reason to lie. Doctor Tamsin Cas. And you are?"
[Malik Ren]
"You already have everything you need." Supplies or lack thereof are apparently not in question here, and the dark-clad man doesn't seem to care, though he does pause long enough to allow her to grab the satchel she left by the dilapidated freight loader. "My name is Malik Ren, and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Doctor Cas. My apologies, of course, for visiting this imposition on you when you're clearly..." Side-eye inspection, "...in need of rest, but life seldom changes according to convenient schedule."
They seem to be walking in the direction of the well guarded First Order outpost's hangar, although the pace is unhurried. "You are not like other people." It isn't a question. "Perhaps you've made an effort not to know that, through your life, but on some level, you do nonetheless understand this to be true. Reflexes faster than they ought to be, an 'insight' stronger than natural intuition... glimpses of events before they've happened, an object that moves just a bit, as though of its own accord, when you were near."
[Tamsin Cas]
"As you like," Tamsin replied, still managing to keep a good pace. It helped that they were not so different in height. She kept an easy hold on her bag, a hand resting there to keep it from banging on her side, "And it is good to meet you as well, Mr. Ren." That was right, wasn't it? Ah well, better polite than right. "Have you been to medical school then?" The comment, just touched by amusement calmed some of the disquiet she felt rising as they approached that forbidding place, "I believe that was on the first page of our indoctrination manual."
Unlike other people? Tamsin's brow furrowed as she considered, "Am I? How would I know? I was not raised..." She shook her head, "I do not know any others like me. I have always been different than my father, the people that I lived with. But how could I not be? We were not the same species." It was clear she was not attempting to lie. She had simply spent her life chalking up her possibly metaphysical differences to being actually physically different.
[Malik Ren]
A brief flicker of amusement. "Ren is a title, not a surname, but you can call me what you like. I am no medic." She continues, and he studies her for a moment, assessing. "Oh, you are a little left of human, aren't you," Malik muses, as though it hadn't been initially and strikingly obvious -- but perhaps on closer inspection, differences can be spotted! "Well, charming, but that's not why you're being collected, Doctor Cas. You are Force-sensitive."
As they approach the hangar, the troopers guarding the on-foot entrance step neatly and respectfully aside, very promptly. Certainly not behavior they do for everyone! One greets, "Sir," and opens an entryway, its blast doors disengaging and opening with solid mechanical noises. "Jedi. Sith. I'm sure you've seen them in holo-movies or history books, haven't you? Strange people with terrifying or fantastic powers, beyond the reach of normal beings? Congratulations. You're one of them."
[Tamsin Cas]
"Malik then." She found a bubble of laughter trying to escape, rather improbably, at the mention of not him being a medic. She bit it back. It was possible, yes, even in the dimness of the hangar lighting to see it. The slight golden cast to her skin, that hint of a metallic sheen, and perhaps the edge of canine slightly too long to be strictly human, "A bit left, yes. But so were those who raised me." As for force-sensitive, "I am afraid I've no idea what you mean by that. Yes, I have heard stories, seen holovids, and in some cases, seen the aftermath, but I can no more do those impossible things than I could pick you up and throw you to the balcony with the power of my will alone." Well, not yet, but her meaning was clear. If she had considered cutting and running, the armed guards gave her pause. She had no doubt they would bring her back. Malik had that air that somehow seemed to convey the threat.
[Malik Ren]
"Happily for us all, your belief in yourself and your own capabilities is not a requirement for said capabilities to exist, in truth, despite you." Malik raises a brow and repeats, "You are one of us." 'Us' this time, and not 'them' -- so he's one fo them too, though the attire does suggest it... it's not dissimilar to the kind of robes men and women wear in the holo-vids or history reels about force users, though his confidence and ease in the attire suggests it is not a costume.
They enter, and the blast doors shut behind them. The way they clang shut, the turn of the huge mechanical lock, seems to imply a foreboding finality. Doors are closing on an old life, literally and figuratively.
"The circumstances of my ambitions out here in the galaxy do not permit me to allow untrained Force-sensitive individuals to wander about freely," Malik continues, "Lest a tempting morsel such as yourself be snapped up by my enemies, the Sith and the Jedi." He pauses at a junction in the corridor, and smiles. The floor is polished to a perfect shine, and the lights are bright white. "So here a choice lies before you, Doctor Tamsin Cas. Whatever you did before, it's over. You are not going back, and two paths forward remain to you. One," he gestures to the left, "Come with me and I will teach you to use that power, and acquaint you with others cut of the same cloth. To fight, to heal with the living Force itself, to soothe pain or inflict it. There's a war on, and it will be both demanding and difficult, and the price to your power will not be gentle or kind... although it will be rewarding beyond what you can presently imagine. Or," he gestures to the right, "I can escort you to the detention center, wherein your days will be remarkably less busy, until we revisit the subject again." Cake, or death??
[Tamsin Cas]
"Then you must live in a very odd world, indeed, Malik. Because in my world, my belief in myself and my capabilities define every moment of every day of my life. And more than that, my belief in those whom I work with. It would be shoddy work indeed if I let just anyone handle my patients." Tamsin was not a happy woman at the moment, but the doors were shut. There was no retreat. And there was something in her shoulders, in the way she carried herself. She was not a woman given to retreat, even in the worst of circumstances.
When Malik stopped, she stopped as well. She made use of the fact that she did not need to tip up her chin to study his face, or as much of it as could be seen beneath the fall of his hood. "I am not given to caving in when faced with a threat or a challenge, Malik," a hand waved towards where he had indicated the detention center lay, "So save your breath on that. I do not know what you are, but I have seen the death and destruction those two powers have wrought on the galaxy. You claim I am this thing, though I have seen no proof of it, and you offer me an opportunity to learn." Tamsin did so love learning things. Blame the Muun and her own insatiable curiosity for that. "So I will give you the opportunity. But I am what I have made myself to be. I am still a doctor. That is not likely to change."
[Malik Ren]
"Good choices, Doctor," Malik remarks dryly. "Not to worry, I can assure you that you'll have more than enough opportunity to practice your mundane doctoring skills, although we will teach you to do so with your innate powers, as well. Neither will you have any shortage of new tasks and paths to keep your mind busy. And I don't have to kill you, so really, fantastic benefits all around. Follow me."
So it's to the left they go, and there in the main hangar, a sleek black shuttle is waiting to ferry them to... where, exactly? To a new life. A new future. A commitment, chosen for her. Allegiance to a cause she hasn't yet understood... but payment in powers she hasn't yet imagined, with it.
The shuttle's ramp lowers, and Malik smiles as he heads up it, pausing at the top. "I suggest you take the opportunity for a nap, for the duration of our flight. Welcome to the Knights of Ren, Tamsin Cas. It's about to get strange."
[Tamsin Cas]
"You can call me Cas, most everyone does. Or Tamsin, if you prefer. I hear 'Doctor', and I wonder what part of you needs reattaching. You cannot imagine how often perfectly serviceable parts just seem to want to drop off of perfectly functioning sentients." Except this was Malik Ren. He could probably perfectly imagine. Ah, for the ignorance of relative innocence. "I would not be difficult to kill. Hardly a challenge." So spoke the non-combatant. "Thank you." What she was thanking him for was not entirely clear. Tamsin boarded the shuttle, slid into a seat, and was almost immediately asleep. It was her //true// superpower.
