Entry 15

Recovered Memory

It took us about fifteen minutes to get back to the hotel. Inside we found Sacha and Den analyzing more security vid feeds.

Magash and I looked over their shoulders to the monitor. "Did Jax send that footage?"

Sacha gazed up from where she sat. "Yes, he tried to get the security recordings from the hotel we stayed in at Svang by bribing a maintenance worker, but it turns out the footage is gone. He doesn't know if the police confiscated the security recordings after Magash's attempted abduction, they never existed, or somebody at the hotel destroyed them."

I pointed to the screen. "So what are we watching?"

"This is the security feed from the building across the street. It is a liquor store that has had multiple robberies in the past. They have cameras everywhere and one security imager was pointed at the side entrance of the hotel. Jax paid the store owner for holovid footage during the time Sondra Soren was kidnapped and this is what he found."

She pointed at the screen showing a nighttime shot of the hotel. The recording wasn't of the best quality due to the low light, with only the few areas illuminated by building lights or street lamps. As we watched I noticed movement at the hotel side entrance. Two human men came out the lodge carrying a large duffle bag. A third man opened the trunk of a speeder parked in the alley. The two males struggled with their obviously heavy and cumbersome bag before they finally managed to get it into the trunk of the speeder. The third man moved the bag around a bit before he closed the lid. He then shook hands with the other two men before he jumped into the speeder and took off.

Den looked to me. "We think Sondra might have been in that bag."

I nodded. "Somebody was definitely in the bag."

Sacha turned in her seat and eyed me curiously. "Why do you say that?"

I leaned over her shoulder to the computer keyboard and reversed the feed to the point where the two men had lifted the bag into the trunk. "Look at this end of the bag." I pointed to the man on the right. "He keeps readjusting his hands as if struggling to keep whatever was inside still."

Sacha leaned closer to her monitor and frowned. "I don't see anything."

"Really?" I was surprised, but I guess this was simply another indication that I was a droid—I was able to discern minuscule movement in a grainy vid. "Okay, wait until the bag is in the trunk. Look at the third man. It looks like he is rearranging the bag but he isn't. He is pushing it down…after it rose up." I flagged the first and last frame of the vid feed I was interested in and put it in a loop. "The bag goes into the trunk, then the left side of the bag lifts up slightly. His apparent adjustment of the bag is him actually pushing the duffle down before shutting the lid."

"I see the movement," Magash whispered before giving me a wide smile. "Your eyes are good. I would not have caught that small movement if you did not point it out."

I don't know why I always feel embarrassed when complimented by Magash but I do. I gave her a sheepish grin. "Thanks."

Sacha sat back in her seat. "If it's Sondra inside the duffle bag, then there are only two places for them to go. She could still be in Svang and in that case hopefully Jax and Norro will find her or she was brought here. There is only one road through the forest from Svang and that leads here to Laressa. I just need to get the recordings for the twelve or so hours after this speeder left the alley and we should be able to figure out if it travelled here." She grabbed a cup of caf off the desk and took a sip. "This is going to be a long night."

We left Sacha to her slicing as Den questioned Magash and me about our run in with Ksassa also known as Genna Tova.

"Are you sure Genna is really Ksassa the woman that went missing almost a year ago?"

I gave a nod. "Her features are the same, she has the same tattoo and matching moles. If it is not her, then it is her clone."

"That's so strange." He sat on the edge of his bed and picked up his datapad and started to view the live surveillance data. "I might as well get back to work." When Magash excused herself to use the 'fresher Den waved me over and whispered, "I see you and our lovely Zabrak friend were getting along extremely well while on your little undercover mission."

I sat down next to him and elbowed his side. "Knock it off. We're just friends." I kept my voice as low as possible so Sacha couldn't hear.

Den gave me an evil grin. "But you would like to be more than friends."

I believe Den was simply trying to have friendly banter, but his question triggered a despondent feeling within me. "That's the problem. I can't be more to her. It doesn't matter what I want. I am not an organic. I cannot be anything to her but a friend." I blew out a frustrated breath. "We've discussed this before. Why do you keep bringing up a possibility that absolutely cannot be?"

Den leaned in closer, speaking in hushed tones. "You don't know what you can or can't be until you try. You are a good friend and you have the ability to perform…umm…let's just say…romantically if the situation arose."

I felt a blush creep over my face. I was told this was actually warm reddish hydraulic fluid suffused through a thin membrane under my cheeks in order to mimic embarrassment. That may be, but emotionally I wasn't mimicking anything. I was extremely discomfited by this conversation. "How would you know that?"

Den shrugged. "I read the owner's manual for your HRD model. This body was designed for spying and sometimes seduction is a key component of infiltration."

I groaned as I dropped my head into my hands. "Please don't talk about a droid having sex. Even I find that disgusting and if Magash heard about this conversation she would have our heads."

"I'm not necessarily talking about her. I'm just saying if you had a relationship with a woman, any woman, the only function you cannot perform is fathering a child. You shouldn't put limitations on yourself. And I'm not encouraging you to try to have sex with anybody. I'm just saying…well, don't rule out the possibility of being able to be a true companion to a woman."

I left my head cradled in my palms, not wanting to look Den in the eye. I assume my feelings of embarrassment were similar to a teenager getting a sex talk from his father. It may be informative but also exceedingly awkward and humiliating. "I refuse to discuss this topic while I am still having memory problems. What if I wake up tomorrow feeling like a droid once again—a droid who is no longer attracted to organic sentients? I cannot entertain your suggestion until my memory is back and I no longer think of myself as a man. So, please stop talking about sex."

I must have said that louder than I intended because Sacha turned from her computer monitor and said, "Who's having sex?"

I kept my head down and groaned softly while wishing the ground would open up and swallow me whole.

"It is nothing about you," Den assured Sacha.

I didn't look in Sacha's direction, but I could hear the smile in her voice. "Who then? Magash?"

I jumped when a voice sounded out behind me. "What about me?" I looked up to see Magash leaving the 'fresher.

"Nothing!" I said a bit too loud and with obvious panic in my voice. "We're not talking about you or Sacha. We're just talking. Can't two guys talk without people butting in on our conversations?"

Magash's eyes narrowed slightly. "It was not my intent to infringe on your conversation."

I rubbed a hand over my face. "I'm sorry. It's just…Den likes teasing me and I am having difficulty deflecting his barbs. Prior to my memory problems I assume I effortlessly disregarded all of his gibes…but now…I find it problematic if not impossible to do so."

Magash walked over to Den and gave him a playful smack to the back of his head. "Leave my friend alone or I will cast a Dathomiri vexation spell on you."

Den frowned. "And what is that?"

Magash grinned. "It is a spell to give you the smallest bladder and the rustiest zipper."

Den chuckled. "I see you are picking up some of I-Five's cutting humor."

She turned to me, her mouth relaxing into a sensual smile. "I can learn much from such a man." She picked up her datapad from the dresser before hopping onto the bed and sitting cross-legged. She turned on the device and began examining live feeds.

My eyes widened at her comment, not knowing how to interpret her words. I turned to Den who had a scat-eating grin on his face. I shook my head not wanting to deal with his goading and walked over to Sacha who continued her efforts to slice into the archived security vids. "Did Jax say anything else about his mission."

She turned to me with an amused look in her eyes. "He said while they were socializing with some of the local workers a group of young miners dared Norro to eat a Nitrox Pepper and wash it down with an non-alcoholic drink called a Lava jet. Apparently both the pepper and the drink burn going down and it feels like you are pissing fire and defecating magma when it's coming out. Jax said Norro has been camped out in the 'fresher for the last few hours moaning and insisting he didn't feel this bad when he was reduced to eating rancid vermin on Despayre." She turned back to her monitor. "You guys should get some sleep. This may take most of the night."

"I'll pull guard duty." My offer was pragmatic. I don't need sleep.

After all, I'm only a lifeless droid…I think. To be honest, I am not sure what I am anymore.