A/N: We're going to another POV chapter here to explain what happened to Simon. Don't worry, we'll be back to SiriWan soon (-:

Two Years Later

Chapter 9

It wasn't long after Simon Tachi was finally released from prison and rejoined his old life with K-Directorate than they were in an absolute panic. The tension was palpable from every sterile white hall, from the offices to the meeting rooms to the laboratories. Their greatest invention so far, Project Helix, had been stolen and they weren't even sure who had taken it out of their laboratory. Project Helix was a method that could turn a person into a physical likeness of another if the second person's DNA was available. All you had to do was get in a liquid made with a formula known only to the scientists there for some time. The scientists had been working on it for years and had come up with what materials were needed for this after painstaking trial and error.

Simon didn't want to think about what the results of those errors were. He hadn't asked anyone and K-Directorate about it, and they hadn't volunteered the information.

Although it hadn't been used successfully yet, everyone at K-Directorate was excited as this invention could potentially make it the most valuable spy agency in the Galaxy. After all, if their agents could impersonate others so easily, how could they be stopped? K-Directorate was concerned that their greatest weapon could now be used against them. And this was just before the scientists were sure their next test would be successful. Nobody seemed to think that timing was just a coincidence, and probably everyone working with K-Directorate, from the highest to the lowest, would be under at least some suspicion for some time.

"I've got some prints from the lab," Simon announced to the scientist at the meeting that had been called to decide what to do about this horrible development. "If he's got a criminal record, we've got our thief."

"And we'll have his head," Simon's supervisor said. "And Simon, I'd like you to be the one to do it."

"Of course," said Simon. "I'll get this back for you in no time." It was great to finally be back in action. It was like the past twenty years had never happened at all, except for the aging and horrible memories of course.

"Who would know about this to steal it? I thought this was a top secret project of ours," said one man who Simon had only recently met.

"It's supposed to be," spat out Simon's boss. "But you know how underworld rumors travel so fast."

Also, there was a lot more complaining about how lax security must be at K-Directorate and how the security would have to be enhanced. Following the brainstorming over how many alarms and biometric devices were necessary, Simon was more than ready to be out of there and find this thief of theirs. This would let him know exactly what sort of trouble they were in.

So as soon as the meeting was over, Simon ran the prints he'd found through the galactic criminal database. It was a simple entry into the computer. Before long, a match came up from the database.

What he found when the computer spit out the results was an absolute shock to his system.

It was the man who his daughter had spent the last two years tracking down. It was the type of man he'd despised for having no respect for other sentient beings and having factories that only existed to sell addictive substances. This was before the way he'd treated his Siri – for he was still protective of her. He could only imagine what she'd been through as a part of that world, where right was wrong and wrong was right.

It was Krayn. He'd be more than happy to kill him even if it didn't mean getting Project Helix back. And he was planning on killing him before Krayn or any of his men could put Project Helix to use. He couldn't waste any time, or he was afraid of what might happen. Who knows what someone like Krayn could do with this technology? Simon didn't even want to start thinking about it, or he knew his imagination would run away with him.

The only question was whether he'd tell Siri what his plans were ahead of time. If he did, the news about Project Helix might slip out. Also she might actually try to convince him not to kill anyone, not even Krayn. But it was so tempting to tell her as he knew she would be happy deep down that Krayn would soon be dead and at his hands. As much of a Jedi as Siri was, he didn't think she'd be quite beyond any feelings of revenge.

In any case, he told his supervisor what he'd found as soon as he could. He thought this would be seen as good news as at least they knew who had broken in and what they were in fact up against.

"I really don't care how that fiend got in here and got that liquid out," he said when he heard the news. "I just want Project Helix back. If you can bring him back here alive, we can see what information we can get out of him. If you have to kill him, that's fine too. The Galaxy won't miss him."

"I completely agree. I can't wait to get my hands on him."

"Don't make it personal. I heard about that mission of your daughter's, but that has nothing to do with his breaking into here and stealing Project Helix."

"I never mentioned that." Simon always hated it when his supervisor seemed to know his thoughts. He'd had enough of that among the Jedi.

"I know you didn't, but I don't see how you can be thinking otherwise. That was something Siri went through, and you're certainly not beyond revenge for her having to give up two years of her life."

"I can still keep this about business."

"If you say so." With that, his supervisor left and Simon was able to continue getting everything he needed packed and ready to go.

And that is how it came to be that Simon was off on his quest shortly after that. It was exactly the sort of mission he'd been trained for ever since he'd started at K-Directorate, and it never occurred to him that he might fail.