(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]

When contacted to see if Naboo would be able to help, Padmé had agreed with only half the details given to her, not that she'd stopped the conversation at that - but her need to rescue, to protect and provide for people had surged forward, and her desire to end the slavery that still occurred in the galaxy had ensured she'd make sure she'd ensure Naboo was ready.

And while she was professionally dressed, there was a softness to it - her robes were a watercolor pattern of blues and silver over an undergown of deeper blue, softly pleated and draped but sheer and light enough that she clearly didn't have any weapons under it. Still, her hair was pulled up and pinned back so there was nothing of it to grab. Even her footfalls were soft - her shoes having soft leather soles rather than hard ones. A medical droid followed behind her but stayed back until beckoned. And while she certainly kept a professional mask on, she was going to have a good cry later over this cruelty.

"Hello, my name is Padmé Amidala. I help run Naboo's refugee program. I can understand you being frightened, and I understand you won't believe me, but you are safe here. And we'd like to get you into a more comfortable environment."

[clan_techie]

He blinked slowly, the movement ever so slightly out of sync from one eye to the other, just a fraction of a second's difference, but still enough that someone with a well-trained eye was likely to notice.

His brow was creased, studying her intently. The eyes were no longer connected to the Madrigal Manor security system, which also meant he had no connection to the holonet, so he couldn't really verify her identity or the location, though he was reasonably sure he recognized her, though he couldn't be sure whether that was a good thing or not.

Likewise, what she was saying matched up with what little the Captain had been able to tell him, but he wasn't going to trust that, either, since the two of them were probably in league with each other. He knew, or had always been told, that MaMa Madrigal was the only one keeping him safe, that anyone else would want to take him from her for their own ends and means. Not that he'd ever fully trusted her either, not considering all she'd done to him.

He sank just a little lower in the already shallow water of the travel container, regarding Padmé for another long moment before reaching one hand up to tap at the box attached to the collar, voice quiet, worn thin as he said: "Off."

[defendstruth]

Given how practiced her own public face was, she noticed. It made her worry, her mouth pulling ever so slightly down and her fingers moving slightly under the drape of her sleeves. That could be a real problem. Just a couple of fractions of a second, before she managed to polish herself back to her normal holonet worthy image.

Calm. Collected. Nonjudgemental.

"That's something we can work on. The EmDee unit would need to take a look at you first and you might need treatment once it's off - just a Bacta gel. A Bacta tank would likely do you some good, but that doesn't have to be now." Padmé beckoned the droid unit forward but motioned it to a stop behind her. Waiting, before sending it to work.

Honestly, she'd be quite happy to feed him up a bit and let him into the Bacta tank until he wanted to eat again, and so on for a couple days. He really looked like he needed it.

[clan_techie]

He immediately sank as low in the water of the crate he was in as he could at the mention of a bacta tank, going from his already sickly pale to decidedly green, just shaking his head, a tight little back and forth, hands braced against the sides of the container, fully prepared to resist being moved just as hard as he could.

Which given the state of him wouldn't be very hard, and certainly not for very long, either, "No. No Bacta." She hadn't made a move for him yet, and now he realized why, something he should have realized already, and was probably going to beat himself up over, at least a little, for not realizing.

Of course, what this most likely meant was that someone, probably more than once, had told him something was Bacta when it wasn't, or he was used to a less-pure strain, and that could mean anything.

[defendstruth]

It wouldn't have been and she knew that. But ultimately...it wouldn't really help. Behind her, EmDee Oh-Four, made fretting sounding beeps, clearly not happy. "It's all right. If you don't want to use a tank, you don't have to." Keeping her voice steady and soothing required all her years of training, and she was glad to have it. No sense telegraphing how angry the implication his actions made were making her/

Padmé walked closer to him and knelt down on the far side of his transport, even if that closer than her security would have liked. "No one is going to make you do anything you don't want to do, ok?" It might be easier to react as if he was one of the younger refugees, which was why she'd gotten down to his level. Not that they were even sure of his age or where he fell on his development yet. Getting him somewhere safe had been the priority. "Can EmDee look at you? Is that ok?"

[clan_techie]

She was close enough that he probably could have made a swipe at her with his tail, if it weren't cramped and curled back on itself the way it was, and if he wasn't already too scared to move, lest he give up what little defense he could muster.

His gills were fluttering even more rapidly, some combination of adrenaline-panic and deliberate oxygenation in case he did have to fight. The medical droid was a different model than he was used to, but even without the holonet he could at least scan the thing for hidden weapons, though he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to divert his attention from her to do so.

He did, finally, shift himself partway around, wedged into a corner of the crate instead of flat against the 'back' of it, eyes whirring audibly -barely- as he focused and re-focused on the droid, scanning, and finally mostly assured that it wasn't there to kill him, he nodded once, just making a soft huff of a sound in the back of his throat.

[defendstruth]

Padmé cursed internally, wishing Anakin was here - he was fairly good at calming people down, and while she was with a crowd, it can be harder for her with strangers. Although she didn't know how he'd respond to a Jedi General, even if she was sure Anakin would be willing to leave his lightsaber outside the hanger. Depending she might need to reach out.

But for now, she could and did stay still until he agreed, and then she only motioned the droid to finish approaching, to allow it to scan him with a focus on the collar. "Is there a name you'd like us to use for your medical file?" He could use his name or not, or change it later - none of that matter really.

[clan_techie]

That question probably hadn't been meant to stump him, but it certainly seemed to, his brow furrowing once more, gaze flicking from the medical droid to her and back again, not fully able to split his focus in the way he felt he should be able to.

What he finally said, quiet, and sounding more like a question than an actual answer, was: "I'm just Techie." He wasn't sure if she was trying to catch him lying about it, because he wasn't yet fully sure that she wasn't working for MaMa, sure, the people who had taken him out of the manor had said she was dead, and the captain that had brought him here had reiterated that, but that didn't mean much to in his experience.

As far as the collar went, it was a biometric lock, probably keyed to MaMa herself, but it could likely be overridden or re-set to defaults. It wasn't grafted to his skin, but was closely-enough fit that there was likely to be bruising or abrasion underneath it, not to mention whatever electrical damage came from setting it off.

[defendstruth]

"Techie then." Padmé nodded gently. Reassuringly, rather than approvingly. The EmDee unit beeped, adding that to the patient profile under 'name' before relaying the information to Padmé about the collar. Seems she might need to call in help.

"So. The collar you have on as a biometric lock. EmDee can try to reset it but that may not work. It's not specialized in it. We don't know what tampering with it may do, but I do know an expert in these things, and he can be here in a couple of days or sooner." Anakin wasn't too far by and she knew he'd drop everything to help her. "So we can try, if you want, or we can wait." There were other questions she wanted to ask, but had decided to break it down to one question at a time for now.

[clan_techie]

"No trying." He replied with another tight little shake of his head, "Don't try." It came out as more of a whine than a plea, though it was entirely because his energy was flagging and with it his vocabulary, not that he'd been using much of it to start with.

In his experience, 'trying' would just lead to setting the thing off, at higher and higher levels and shorter and shorter intervals, and he knew he wouldn't be able to handle that. It had happened once, shortly after he'd gotten the new eyes, and had put the left one out of commission for a couple of days, which in retrospect was probably how he'd managed to acclimate to them, only having one to work with at first. But he didn't have the energy or the words to explain any of that at the moment.

The rest of his health wasn't that great, either. He was deficient in multiple key nutrients, likely due to being chronically under-fed, was probably underweight and had an apparent long-term, low-level infection, either from the cybernetics or damage from the collar or both, not to mention the scattering of scars along both arms and hands and even along his torso, of varying ages and depths, but likely all made by the same -or similar- blades.

[defendstruth]

"Ok. We'll wait. The expert is a Jedi Knight, and I'll call him as soon as we get you settled."

EmDee trilled off a list of other, very important in their mind, things to handle.

"Patience EmDee, patience." Padmé cautioned. "EmDee tells me you have an infection. We have Kolto as well as Bacta, and a Kolto infusion should take care of that for you. You also would probably like to eat, yes?" Two questions this time, but hopefully simple ones. Padmé would like to get him fed and into the rehabilitation pool they'd set up. Given the state of him, she was glad they had decided to go with the soft sand and moss-covered smooth rocks so he'd have non-abraisive surfaces.

[clan_techie]

His brow creased a little at that initial revelation, partly because MaMa hadn't trusted the Jedi, or the idea of the Jedi, and Techie wasn't sure whether or not that meant he should trust them more or not. But that was something he'd have to puzzle out on his own, because that next set of questions had him sighing heavily, resignation in his face and his too-flat tone as he responded: "What do I need to do?"

He'd been fed regularly enough at the manor, but invariably if someone was asking if he wanted to eat, that meant he was going to have to earn it, generally through minor slicing tasks that the rest of MaMa's crew felt were below them, and while it did strike him as odd that a Republic Senator might need something like that, he was honestly too exhausted to really put much thought into it.

[defendstruth]

Padmé meanwhile, misunderstands the resignation completely. "The Kolto is an aerosolized mist. So just breathe slowly and deeply. It does taste a bit...odd - fruity in a generic way and also strongly of menthol." It's not the most pleasant taste and it lingers but it really isn't that bad.

Not that Padmé - and many other Senators - didn't have slicers on staff. She did, and the woman was one of her closest friends. She wouldn't ask or attempt to oblige someone she didn't know and trust to slice for her. Nor would she take advantage of someone in that way regardless.

[clan_techie]

He wasn't sure if he was being mocked or tested and didn't like the idea of either one, this was a situation where neither option was better than the other.

But if it was a test he was better off asking, because if he was only being mocked, that was the only thing there would be more of. Which was why he shook his head again, just once, eyes downcast once more as he clarified: "No. What do I need to do to deserve it?"

[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.