(no subject)

[clan_techie]

The Madrigal crime syndicate had been disbanded, and luckily someone involved with that disbanding knew where to send her tech -and favorite pet- since releasing him into the local waterways wasn't something he'd survive, not with the augmentations he had and not when no one knew for sure if he was even native to the planet. Cybernetic eyes that hadn't actually been made for him and had just been implanted because they were available and a collar that was fitted closely enough that they couldn't be sure whether it was just tight or whether it was grafted on, and the small box set against his throat was apparently just there to deliver a stinging electrical charge if he made any of the sounds a Mer would naturally make, apparently an encouragement to speak basic.

He definitely wouldn't have survived just being released into the waterway in the state he was in even just a couple days on his own. No one had known he was in her manor or they would have cleared it out sooner, and it was the brand at his temple marking him as property instead of a member of the syndicate that likely saved him from arrest or worse.

When he arrived at the facility on Naboo he was in what amounted to a shipping container, too small by half and short enough that his tail was folded back on itself, fins starting to curl, though it was likely that was more from malnutrition and being kept in a too small tank at the Madrigal Manor more than it was the travel container. He was definitely underweight, skin practically pale enough to see through, and what had once been brilliantly orange-copper scales on his tail and scattered in patches up his torso were dull, almost dusty. He'd hissed and snapped half-heartedly at his rescuers, but didn't have the energy for much more than that, and definitely didn't have it now after a few hours in hyperspace. Mostly he was just regarding his new surroundings with suspicion, breathing and the movements of the gills along his ribs irregular and shallow.

Comments

[defendstruth]

"I-I don't understand what you mean. You're ill, you deserve medical care. That is how society supposed to work." There's confusion in Padmé's voice but some righteous anger as well - that he was treated so cruelly, that it was so common throughout the galaxy, despite what the Republic was supposed to stand for. How they had failed, how she had failed, and how many more people in the galaxy were suffering like this.

[clan_techie]

The mental gear-grinding as he turned that answer over was practically audible. He wanted to believe her, she seemed sincere in a way that no one else he'd met did, but experience was working against that.

And finally, what he came around to, still not looking at her again was a quiet: "And food?"

[defendstruth]

"The same. The society which fails to provide for it's citizens is a failed one. No one should go hungry, or thirsty, without home or power or running water or proper hearing or cooling. Without medical care or education or opportunity. It's what the Republic is supposed to provide for it's citizens. And there are those who fight against that idea, who seek only to take, or would make someone, even children "prove" their worth. That befouls all we are as civilizations. I know there are places in the Republic where this is no longer true, perhaps it never was, but it is something I fight for. Because no one should ever suffer if that suffering can be prevented. Life is precious, far too precious, for such things." It's nothing new - her beliefs had been convictions for over a decade now, before she was a senator, before she was Queen of Naboo or princess of Theed, before the refugee program she's ran with het father, back when she's first entered any type of civil service, when she's been only seven. Of course so much of those beliefs came from Naboo as it were, the blending of art and science, technology and progress with nature and tradition.

[clan_techie]

He was no longer bracing himself against the sides of the crate, instead his fingers were a sort of nervous tangle in front of him, brow furrowing further and still further as he listened, because all of that certainly sounded like the kinds of things he'd heard her say in broadcasts, and it was the kind of thing he sincerely wanted to believe was possible.

So finally, after another few moments of deliberation once she'd finished speaking, he nodded, brow still creased, "Alright."

[defendstruth]

Her smile is soft, gentle. "I'm aware we need to earn your trust. No one will be angry if you express doubt towards us or our intentions." Well. "Not angry at you, anyway." Anakin would be plenty angry.

She motioned the droid forward and it placed a small canister in the edge of the tub, depressed a button on top and they both stepped back. Padmè with a grace that door seem possibly with her kneeling position and her heels.

The neon green liquid inside hissed out, becoming a nein green mist that sounded Techie. Any small abrasions closed instantly is the cool mist, Kolto wasn't as potent as Bacta but it still worked wonders.

[clan_techie]

He breathed slowly and deliberately, either because that was what she'd explained, or because he'd been through this before, it was difficult to say. Though even as he did, he sneezed once, roughly, it was enough to cause the gill-slits along his ribs to flare again, some of that intaken breath escaping again, really only used to needing one or the other and not both, but he hadn't been able to fully submerge for days and had gotten used to just breathing with his mouth and lungs alone even though he was really only meant to for short periods.

He scrubbed the back of one wrist across his nose, muffling the: "M'okay." That followed the sneeze, "Feels like a cold current, that's all."

[defendstruth]

The sneeze didn't surprise her - and even with his gill-slits exposed the Kolto would still work its near-magic, soaking into the tissue to travel the bloodstream.

"It's all right. Take your time, even what settles on your skin will be absorbed after all. You'll feel much better in fifteen minutes or so, and tomorrow even more so." Even the scars should improve although there wouldn't be an easy way of completely removing them.

Once the Kolto was inhaled and Techie wasn't trying to inhale it anymore, she continued. "We can certainly serve you a meal or a snack here, but I was wondering if you'd rather eat in the rehabilitation pool we have set up for you? You're likely to be more comfortable." It was much bigger, if nothing else.

[clan_techie]

"There's a pool?" There was definitely hope in that question, and an undeniable wariness at the same time, still fairly sure this was all going to come crashing down around him at some point, and probably soon, because that was how things worked for him.

But if he could submerge for a while, even if it was just a few hours, just long enough to work out the cramped muscles of his tail, he could handle whatever came next.

[defendstruth]

"Yes, there is. I admit, it was built and originally designed for rehab of injured wildlife - Naboo has expansive oceans and lakes, on occasion wildlife has accidents or escapes predation - but I believe we have redesigned it to be comfortable for you as well as reworked the controls so you can use them rather than a keeper. We'd like you to stay until you are back to full strength, and then, of course, you may go wherever you choose. And if there is anything we need to rework to make you more comfortable in during you stay, we'll work with you." Padmé privately thought the Gungans would love him to visit with them, once he was up to the trips.

"Would you like to go now?"

[clan_techie]

"Yes." He tried not to sound too eager, adding an almost belated, "Thank you." Mostly he figured that the best way to keep this all from collapsing was by being polite, and that was something he'd had extensive practice at.

He hadn't even seen the pool yet, but it had to be better than what amounted to a shipping crate, and probably better than the aquarium he'd been kept in back at the Manor, where he'd had enough room to stretch out and even turn around, but wasn't the same as open water.

He wasn't even sure he really remembered what open water was like.

[defendstruth]

His eagerness got a smile from Padmé, the eagerness was reassuring, a better gauge of personality and character than anything else really. She liked to see it. EmDee opened a holoscreen for Padmé to resummon the lifting droids, who carefully lifted Techie's tub and placed it on a hovering pallet. Once they were all settled, Padmé started leading to lead them from the hanger outside toward a building encased in transparisteel which glittered like a jewel in the sunlight seeming like a crystal growing directly from rolling ground. It wasn't too far to walk but there was a landspeeder waiting regardless, complete with a driver. Padmé boarded, followed by Techie's crate, then the droids, before the speeder started up. It kept a careful speed so as not to slosh Techie around but moved faster than they would have on foot, cutting a walk which would have taken at least half an hour to mere minutes. Upclose, it was clear the building was several stories high, the transparisteel artfully shaped so that the shape of the jewel changed depending on it was open to allow air currents in or closed against the weather. As the day was mild, they were open. As they approached, the smell of water laid on the air.

The driver stopped the speeder, and Padmé exited the speeder followed by the others, the lifter droids pulling the hover pallet out, while Padmé and her driver opened the doors.

Inside, the promised 'pool' awaited, although it was really more several pools woven together - two quite small, but still more than two meters deep by two by three, meant for providing medical care, and two large ones. Only one could be seen from the entrance, an artificial shore sloping into the water, covered in sand that was extremely fine - he'd find it was so soft it was pleasant to pet when they got to it, rocks polished smooth and most covered in a thick carpet of moss and other aquatic plants, the surface moving gently, which spoke to a gentle current. The water was clear, made to look like a piece of nature rather than something man-made. It had a depth of four-and-a-half to seven-point-six meters deep, with shallow 'caves' in some sides, big enough to fit Techie curled up inside. It stretched out over eighteen by almost twenty-six meters, even if it wasn't square at all. Quite organic looking. Even the sides looked more like outside shores, completely with vegetation on the sandy ground with the backmost shore rolling rocks that had water trickling down it in a very gentle fall.

[clan_techie]

He still wasn't quite sure how to deal with everyone being so careful with him, it definitely wasn't the kind of thing he was used to, but he wasn't going to protest it, either, just watching as the facility came into view, brow furrowed again at the sheer size of it even before they'd gotten inside.

A series of micro-expressions -and a handful of actual expressions- crossed his face, all some level of confusion and amazement and what he finally said was: "This is real?" He hadn't meant it as a question, not really, "It's... outside. But it's inside?" That one was probably at least halfway to being an actual question, but even he couldn't be sure what it was he was trying to ask, just too overwhelmed by the sheer expanse of it to come up with any clear response.

[defendstruth]

"We tried to design something which wouldn't be boring to live in. And we're all rather in love with our planet. I wouldn't say this is a rebuild of any one place, but rather references to beloved places by the artists. I can see inspirations of the lake country in some, I know I wasn't the only school child who prayed to the gods to be magicked into something that could live there." There's more to be discovered about the pool, of course, technology built-in, the control panel, and more underwater that wasn't clear from the surface - but for now, they stopped near the pool, allowing Techie to get his bearings.

[clan_techie]

His next question, finally having been able to focus on the water itself instead of everything else about the place, was an equally-awed, "Why is the water moving?" That was definitely something new to him, the tank at the manor just had scrubbers in it to keep anything from growing, but was otherwise entirely still water if he hadn't just been moving in it himself.

He knew in an abstract sort of way that real bodies of water had currents and tides and usually both, but with the outside being part of the inside here, he wasn't sure how that would work on top of only having the barest idea about them in the first place.

[defendstruth]

"It's a current." Padmé motioned at the rock wall. "The water trickling there serves two purposes: one, it adds water to the pool that is lost to the substrate and to evaporation but also adds movement and oxygen to the water, and there are other input and output areas which are covered with safety shields that filter, clean, and replenish the oxygen in the water for you. There is a gentle current as a result, which moves from the rocks to the sand. "You haven't had water with currents?" That was mildly alarming.

[clan_techie]

he shook his head at the question, "No." His brow creased once more, actually thinking that over, "Maybe. A long time ago." He knew that he hadn't always been with MaMa, no matter what she said, but it had always been easier just to believe it.

His voice was quieter when he spoke again, hesitant, "I don't think I can get in there." Which was to say he was exhausted enough by the events of the past few hours that his hands had started to shake, a barely-visible tremor at the moment, though it was likely to get worse, and he knew he didn't have the strength to heave himself up over the side of the crate he was in.

[defendstruth]

"That will be something we'll need to work on designing a program to get you acclimated to them again, then." A much longer rehabilitation than they had thought - not that she was second-guessing this. If anything, what he said was making her more sure of the rightfulness of her actions and offer.

"We'll help you." The lifter droids picked up the crate and sat it on the sand, the shore sloped down gently toward the water, and they laid the crate so it was alongside against the waterline. Padmé was carefully gathering her over robe, to bundle it against her hip and stepped out of her heels to walk over to the crate while the EmDee unit leaned over Techie and carefully picked him up as if he weighed very little. It shifted sideways and carried him almost a meter into the water before putting him down.

The water would have just over Padmé's head if she was sitting along the sandy bottom. And it was warm, very pleasantly warm, from the sunlight which was allowed inside the building.

[clan_techie]

He didn't actually weigh that much, or at least not as much as he probably should have, for his size. Regardless he stayed sitting upright once he was set down, mostly so that he could lean forward to work some of the stiffness out of his tail, though he knew that was going to take a lot more work until it was flexing properly again.

But he did finally tilt himself backwards to submerge fully, even though he stayed on that sandy shoal for the time being, almost like a cat basking in a sunbeam. He did sit up again after a moment, looking briefly startled, as if remembering that he'd forgotten something important, which in this case was another: "Thank you. For this."

[defendstruth]

He certainly didn't weigh enough - muscle is dense and he needed more of it, at least in the medical droid's opinion. Body fat as well - there was a reason they had made sure the water would be warm.

Padmé made her way over to the crate, sitting on the corner, with her feet in the water. When Techie sat up, looking startled she started to jump up to see what was wrong before he spoke. "You're welcome. Go ahead and relax, stretch out. I can show you around later." She wanted him to be comfortable.

[clan_techie]

He regarded her for a long moment, as if he might be able to determine whether or not she was lying about that. Reasonably sure that she was being truthful, he did stretch out again, though it was forwards so he could set in to working at his tail again, trying to loosen the cramped muscles.

It was something he knew was going to take time, and probably multiple rounds of kneading, but he was up to it, as long as this whole scenario didn't collapse, and he wasn't going to count on it staying the way it was, unused to people being kind.

[defendstruth]

Padmè stayed relaxed, posture and breathing calm and collected. Once Techie went back to stretching, she dismissed the loader droids who started back to the hanger and dismissed EmDee to the medical pool area. They all had things to do, herself included.

So while he was working on his trail Padmè opened her comlink and started going over public documents and schedules, nothing which required any privacy at all. Occasionally she'd pause something to make a note on it but mostly just silently studied.

[clan_techie]

He was only halfway paying attention to what she was doing, all too used to being watched at all times himself, but with the ingrained habit of keeping track of what little information he could that he might be able to use later.

Once his hands started to tire he figured that was as much good as he could do for his tail for the time being he just twisted himself over on his belly to fully submerge in the water again. He rested his head on folded arms, breathing slowly, not sleeping, not yet, only trying to let himself relax enough that he could because he knew he needed to.

[defendstruth]

That he was used to gleaning information was why she stuck to public information. At least in part. And she stayed in case he had trouble, not to be nosey. Privately she wondered if a muscle relaxant withhold help and if he'd reject the offer.

But once he was submerged again,she began working on a speech - nothing that needed privacy still but a distraction from the rest. She knew the Kolto would still be working, killing the infection, repairing injured muscle and tissue. But he'd also just need restful sleep. And she was glad to give him a safe place to do that.

[clan_techie]

Chances were good that he'd decline most medical assistance, not unless he knew exactly what it was and what it did, and even then he wasn't likely to trust it, not really.

As it was, he didn't actually sleep, but he did let himself drift a little. He'd explore further later, still not entirely trusting that he was allowed to, and knowing that even a doze for a while would help set him to rights.

He was high enough on the artificial shoal that the currents wouldn't cause him to drift, but far enough out that he'd have plenty of warning if someone decided to come out to him for any reason, essentially sleeping with one eye open.

[defendstruth]

It goes back to trust - it has to be earned and they haven't done that yet. And Techie has a great many reasons to mistrust all of them. Not just from suffering past abuses but because until he's used to open water again and can survive in it and hunt for himself - he's trapped at the whilms of those caring for him. It's not a situation Padmé has been in, not really. Even as a child she's been very deeply and securely attached to her parents and clan but also quite independent.

While he rested, Padmé continued to work, though she occasionally dipped the toes of one foot into the water. Nothing more intrusive than that, and it was more unconcious than anything.