Questions

[echo_of_a_jedi]

Who: Meetra Surik and Open
Where: All around Hinoto-Ri
Summary: Meetra is trying to figure out the weather shenanigans, and generally failing
Warnings: Demons?
Hot, cold, hot, cold, hot, cold. The pattern was easy to see and impossible to explain. Today, particularly, it had been hot, and tonight, particularly, it was the New Moon. It was time, as far as Meetra was concerned, to go ask the demon population of the city now that she'd exhausted talking to the human civilians during the day and was fairly certain that none of her fellow guests had the slightest clue beyond this not being normal for this planet.

Meetra was trying several places. First and foremost, she asked demons around and throughout the city. Everyone had their ideas, but as the night went on, she seemed to get no closer to a clear answer, even from the elemental-themed fairies (though their opinions were the loudest). She also checked around the Mictlan (normal levels of government and weird mountain demon activity), with the night owls at the police station in Leo (above their pay grade), and anywhere else in the city that might know anything about the environment.

Barring some kind of divine or Force-based intervention, she was rather frustrated by the time the 13th Hour was approaching. Maybe she'd run into someone who'd know then, or maybe she'd just find someone to help against an aggressive demon. She did have her lightsaber with her.

Comments

[greyerrant]

Garviel can be found at the edge of the mictlan, stinking of blood and battle like always.

"Meetra."

He rumbles at her. "I think we need to talk about your... servant."

[echo_of_a_jedi]

"Hm?"

Wait, did Garviel come here to cull demons every night?

...would she be surprised at all if that were the case?

"Oh, you mean HK-47," she said. "I promise, he's incapable of killing anyone I don't order him to."

[greyerrant]

Pretty much every night, yes.

"See to it. I do not trust abominable intelligences, and that one is positively malicious."

He frowns, inside his armor, "What is your mechanism for controlling him?"

[forceofnature]

"Good on you."

There is a suspicious sound of crunching as of popcorn being noisily chewed.

"I think the conclusion we can come to here is that whatever's going on, it's going to dramatically flare out into the open on a certain day and there's nothing to be done about it beforehand. That's usually how this kind of thing goes, right?"

A short pause.

"10 drachma on Saturnalia. ...Sorry, Christmas."

[greatergone]

Waiting at the ready was Kais. He had a lesser impact in the Force than nearly every other race that existed in the city but that didn't stop him from doing what he considered his duty. Which was waiting near the Mictlan, biding his time until the 13th hour. Kais hated the waiting but he enjoyed the killing that came after. He wasn't evil...it was just something he did. He had a particular hatred for daemons and tended to avoid them or kill them at all costs.

When approached, he looked up, the red light on his helmet blinking as it took in Meetra and her biological data.

"Can I help you, gue'la?"

[ghost_shield]

Nick seemed to be talking to SOMEBODY about the weather over here in the Aries district, at least. Presumable, this meant one of two things: 1.) He has a bluetooth phone nobody knows about, or 2.) he's talking to someone DEAD again.

Eventually, whoever it is seems to leave, and Nick just sighs. "I suppose talking about the weather to entities that don't notice the difference isn't much good, really..."

He spots Meetra. "Oh! Hey. How're you doing?" He definitely seems a LOT braver now.

[echo_of_a_jedi]

"'Only kill on orders' is hardwired into his behavior core. That's why he's an assassin droid and not a wanton slaughter droid," she said. "Any attempt to subvert that would make him completely inoperable."

"Plus, I can always threaten to reinstall his pacifism module."

Not that she would ever do that. It was almost as disturbing for her as it was for him.

[echo_of_a_jedi]

"I don't know what either of those are anyway," she admitted to the air around her, "except one of them is plastered all over the store advertisements. Didn't the last weird thing that happened come to a head on the transition between two 'Zodiac signs', though? When's the next one of those?"

[echo_of_a_jedi]

"Just about as exasperated as you look."

She wasn't surprised at seeing this guy looking less afraid. She...hadn't been on top of her game against the scorpions herself. "Who were you asking, exactly?"

[echo_of_a_jedi]

If Kais's armor can detect Psykers or other connections to what his setting calls the Warp, it would definitely bring back some anomalous readings here...although otherwise, she's a pretty standard human female.

"Only if you know something about the strange weather patterns," she said, looking up slightly at the armored figure. "Judging from your outfit and the fact that my translator just glitched, though, I'm guessing you're not from around here either."

[greyerrant]

He shifts, clearly annoyed by the idea of an assasin droid. That's tech heresy on top of dishonor.

"Are you sure it wouldn't be best just to do that anyway?"

[greatergone]

Unfortunately, he can only tell psykers by their gibbering insanity. Well, that was how he was trained, at least. If only Tau could be a psychic species...

"No. I'm not from any human planet like this one. But this weather has been impossible to predict so far."

[forceofnature]

"You should probably ask someone who was around then. Not that I'm not omniscient and all, but I'm more omniscient about things I've seen in person."

Crunch crunch crunch.

"But it's the 21st when Capricorn swings around. I don't know why you humans think the stars have anything to do with your destiny, but it comes in handy for fortune-telling."

[ghost_shield]

"Who, me? Oh... nobody important." He coughs. "What's got you down so much?"

[echo_of_a_jedi]

"Lack of free will notwithstanding, droids are still more or less sapient beings. Besides, he's saved my life a surprising number of times," she said.

Look, if she held rampant murdering against people she'd have no friends whatsoever.

[echo_of_a_jedi]

Frankly, even by Star Wars standards, they are probably better off without it.

"The pattern's been pretty clear, alternating hot and cold days. I just don't know anything that can do that with this kind of regularity," she said. "Even in a closed environment like this, it doesn't make any sense..."

[greyerrant]

He glowers quietly for a moment, considering the dark ages of technology where abominable intelligences ruled humanity, reducing them to little more than flesh-slaves.

"But what makes a sapient being worth sparing? I understand an honor-debt better than most, I would imagine, but..." He doesn't finish the thought. So many of the xenos societies he have seen were so utterly abhorrent, with the only exception being the interex, and even that was spoiled by the treachery of Erebus. His bitterness is clear for a Jedi to read, not an emanation of the darkside inasmuch as a wave of psychic pain as he remembers a war by moonlight.

[echo_of_a_jedi]

"They shouldn't affect me at all, since I'm not even from this galaxy, but I was just as freaked out as every other 'Leo' two months ago, so..."

She admitted that fairly casually, but was still quick to change the subject. "That's also this planet's Winter Solstice, isn't it? That seems like a pretty good candidate for 'portentous date'."

[echo_of_a_jedi]

"No one knows what's causing the bizarre weather. Normally somebody knows something, but not even the demons know anything," she admitted.

[greatergone]

"No, it doesn't." No one in their right mind would have such a setting. "The days that are hot, I like. But the ones that are cold are unbearable."

[echo_of_a_jedi]

"We're taught to respect all life, even that of our enemies. The Jedi, I mean."

She paused and considered that. "In my personal case, I go out on a limb and extend that to things that aren't alive, but are aware anyway. Even if they're not part of the Force, it seems like a logical progression."

"Anyway, killing cleanly in combat is one thing, but I'd never take a life or shut a mind down just because of potential danger."

[echo_of_a_jedi]

"You're not used to cold temperatures, I guess?"

He didn't look quite human, but she decided not to assume it was necessarily a biological adaptation.

[greatergone]

"To most gue'la, my home planet would be considered dry and hot to them. The only snow we see is on top of mountains."

Not to mention that those in the Fire Caste drew their roots from living on the savannahs of T'au, a place with little shade and shelter.

[greyerrant]

"You are merciful, then."

He is quiet for a moment. "I try to show such mercy and honor as well to human opponents. I have less pity for xeno-breeds or those that would harm humanity, however."

And of course traitors and demons get the shank right out.

[ghost_shield]

So that's it. "That's sort of worrying. You'd think the demons would be in on the know, at least." Not that he's tried asking himself. He's still not sure whether his little problem is present here, and he's not in a rush to test it. "Do you think this is building up to something?"