Chapter 37: Lir Sey'les
Aboard the Gyr'tor
At first, Sey'les could not figure out whether she had been rescued or arrested. Even after her hearing returned, the Marshalls and the doctors still refrained from explaining much of anything that was not health related. Whenever she asked anything about Leritor, they replied with noncommittal grunts. When she asked about consciousness transfer, the Marshalls looked downright frightened.
A few hours of hyperspace swirls went by before the corvette dropped out into the Both system, somewhere in the void beyond Bothawui.
In the darkness, the dim glow of a shuttle-sized craft grew brighter and brighter against the starlight.
Okay, I am not under arrest then, Sey'les reasoned. The occupant of the shuttle must be here to clear this whole mess up.
o.o.o.o.o
The occupant of the shuttle turned out to be a plump blonde-furred Bothan male. He was well dressed, sported an eccentric purple mane, and was with the Bothan Diplomatic Corps.
More bafflingly, he claimed to be Sey'les's lawyer, which answered her question about being under arrest. Most bafflingly, however—
"—You want me to plead guilty to treason?!" Sey'les snarled, furiously sliding the datapad back across the desk. "Accept a life sentence of internal exile! I thought you were my lawyer."
Edep picked up his datapad, cringing his snout at her. "Treason and failing to secure classified information. You'll be eligible for parole review in five years, and your internal exile is to your hometown. Look, Sey'les, I know what happened to you was frightening—"
"—Frightening? Look at me!" Sey'les gasped exasperatedly, gesturing to herself. "They cut my fur, dyed me white, painted symbols on me… The nicest one only cared enough to want me to die without suffering. I was accused of things I didn't do—they knew I didn't do them but only wanted my body!"
"All right, calm down. You're safe now," Edep sighed, closing his eyes. "Wait, what makes you think they wanted your body?"
Sey'les gulped. Her fur fell flat as she remembered what Veryk's disembodied voice had said in a posh Core world accent: We have decided that Garmr cannot be permitted to take possession of your body. It is too risky.
"Look," Edep said consolingly, looking at Sey'les. "I know—we know you didn't kill anyone on Merj."
Sey'les ran her hands over her head, feeling the bristles of her short fur. A memory flashed through her mind. Standing outside of the Techno Union building she raised her blaster, pointing it at a Morseerian's head, and squeezed the trigger. The loud sound of the thermal detonator went off in the background. Wulf's voice echoed in her mind Sey'les, we really have come full circle since Antar haven't we?
"Sey'les? Sey'les? Can you—"
"—Sorry," Sey'les growled, snapping back into focus. "Kriff it," she sniffled, then sighed bitterly. Maybe living in Ashnenvisk—being with my family—won't be so bad. Even if I'm not allowed to leave.
Edep's fur fell flat as he stammered incoherently. "So you are really taking this—Sey'les, I am not allowed to—we can't take this trial! The shtak you know about… Bodzho will let Garmr kill you..."
"Give me the kriffing datapad," Sey'les grunted.
Sighing in relief, Edep passed her the datapad.
o.o.o.o.o
Garmr
Leritor
A cyclic beep occurred once every few seconds causing Garmr's ear to twitch. The air smelled like the interior of a hospital. That can't be. Wait, something's—
Garmr stirred awake, blinking in the bright white Kaminoan interior. Everything looked, smelled, and sounded slightly wrong.
"My Lord," Vasa stammered nervously, "I am so glad—HE'S AWAKE!"
Garmr looked into Vasa's eyes. He remembered her, but his memory of her felt like someone else's memory. He wracked his mind, but everything he remembered also did not feel like one of his own memories. It was like everything in his mind was completely artificial.
A vaguely familiar Kaminoan male entered the room. Garmr sniffed the air, not so concerned with not remembering this Kaminoan's name, but instead concerned as to why this doctor and not his usual doctor was attending to him.
"Where is Agatha?" Garmr growled, fur swirling with nervousness. "Why am I here? What happened? Why is Vasa—Vasa..."
"Agatha Mey'lya didn't make it," Vasa gulped. Her fur was flat.
Garmr felt like he should be enraged, terrified, perhaps saddened by that news. Instead, he felt nervous and confused. "What do you mean she didn't make it?"
"She was killed while trying to save you," the Kaminoan explained, shining a light into his red eyes.
A vague distant sensation of sorrow flared up—more like remembering what sad felt like than actually feeling the sensation "Killed?"
"How do you think I should proceed?" the Kaminoan asked Vasa, turning away from Garmr.
"What do you mean?" Vasa asked dumbfounded.
"Do you think we should explain all of what happened, or—"
"—All of what?" Garmr interrupted.
"I—I well…" Vasa sighed, then looked Garmr directly in the eyes. "Garmr, you've been dead for 19 hours."
The consciousness transfer… Garmr gasped. "There was an accident then?"
"Not exactly, my Lord," Vasa winced. "Do you remember how you wanted a force-sensitive body? I thought it was a bad idea. Well..."
"Sey'les… She died after I transferred into her body? You people said it would be fine!" Garmr snarled to the Kaminoan, fur standing on end. He was livid. Never in 200 years had there been an accident when they knew the location of the transfer victim.
"No, my Lord," the Kaminoan said haughtily. "Sey'les broke out of her restraints a minute into—"
"—A MINUTE!" Garmr yelped in shock. Consciousness transfers usually take under ten seconds.
"A minute and eight seconds to be exact," she continued, noting something on her datapad. "Somehow, my Lord, Sey'les survived the transfer, broke out of her restraints, and sent a power surge down into your body."
"Liac has a different theory, Ona," Vasa growled cautiously.
"Ah yes," the Kaminoan, Ona, agreed. "Liac believes that, after breaking out of her restraints, Lir Sey'les sent a power surge and the consciousness of a hawk into your body. Do you think that is the important distinction Vasa? Does the hawk make the difference here?"
Garmr could not recall who Liac was. Yet, realising the implications of a power surge, he frantically reached to the top of his head. Atop his head were bald patches where electrodes had fried, burning away the fur.
"No no!" Vasa snarled, greying fur twitching with annoyance. "Liac believes Sey'les sent the Dark Lord's consciousness down into a hawk and the hawk expired because it could not contain his consciousness. The remains of the hawk's mind then spilled over along the transfer vector, entering the Dark Lord. This distinction is consequential because it was inadvertent. She meant to return the Dark Lord to us, as opposed to well… It means she didn't kill him intentionally."
Pointing a finger at Vasa, Ona opened her mouth to retort. Instead however, she gasped in alarm as Garmr tumbled out of bed.
"SHE KILLED ME! SEY'LES KILLED ME!" he snarled, then yelped. Something was wrong. His legs buckled out from under him as he collapsed to the hard marble floor. "Why can't I walk?"
"You… Can you feel your legs, my Lord?" Ona asked, pinching his right leg.
Garmr gulped. "Yes."
"Hmmm…. We'll have to run some tests."
Letting out a disappointed breath, Garmr laid his head down onto the cold floor, staring at Vasa's feet.
o.o.o.o.o
Soon, they were joined by Gnipahellir's most popular neuro specialist, Liac Gel. Once again, Garmr's head was covered in electrodes as they scanned his brainwave patterns.
"This is quite strange," Liac muttered, turning to Ona.
"What is it?" Ona asked, arching her long Kaminoan neck as she leaned her head forward to the terminal.
Garmr gulped, fur swirling nervously. "Am I crippled?" Being crippled was not the worst possible outcome for the Dark Lord—it would only be a few years before the Kaminoans grew him a new body, but still.
"No, your spine is uninjured," Liac reassured. "Rather, you have forgotten how to walk."
"What?!" Garmr yelped.
Ona gasped in surprise. "How is that possible?"
"We all knew the analog of Garmr's memories would degrade. What I—what we didn't anticipate, was that his procedural memory would be the worst decayed."
Garmr's snout hung open as he stared helplessly into space.
"Oh don't worry, my Lord. We can teach you how to walk again! In time, I am sure you are a quick study."
"This is humiliating!" Garmr snarled, shaking his head. "I want Sey'les found and killed. Painfully."
"That's going to be a problem," Vasa croaked.
"A problem?" Garmr asked, sitting up in bed.
"My Lord, Sey'les was rescued by the Marshalls and has been sentenced to internal exile. The Spacers tried to rescue her too. She is quite popular."
"Quite popular," Garmr snarled to himself. "I thought forging Bodzho's signature was a mistake, but the Spacers. That's twice they have interfered with my plans… They are getting bold."
Vasa shifted uncomfortably for a moment. "Perhaps if they were brought on board with some of our plans, they would be less apt to oppose you."
"Perhaps," Garmr agreed. His fur twitched with annoyance as he seethed to himself. "Sey'les will be difficult to kill if she is under Bodzho's protection on Bothawui. I want her monitored. If she steps one toe out of line, we eliminate her."
o.o.o.o.o
Lir Sey'les
Bothwui
The sun set as Edep's shuttle crossed Bothawui's polar circle. The sky beyond the transparisteel faded into a dark blue ultraviolet twilight. At the latitude of Sey'les's hometown, Ashnenvisk, the sun would not rise again for another thirty one days.
"These… None of these are my clothes," Sey'les growled incredulously, digging through the duffle bag Edep had given her. It was filled with clothes that smelled like they had been worn. Some of them had worn patches.
"No," Edep agreed. "We couldn't get your belongings from Coruscant, I hope you understand."
"Now that we've crossed your no-go zone, I need to inject you with a tracking device," one of the Marshalls grunted, brandishing a syringe.
Sey'les took a deep breath and rolled up the sleeve of her sweater. She grimaced, scrunching her face as she felt a familiar sting.
"The tag is sensitive to your bioelectric field," the Marshall explained. "If you remove it, we will know."
"Copy that," she sighed. Sey'les looked over her shoulder back to Edep, who was now speaking onto the subspace radio.
"Homelo? Erz yag pan Safyan Sey'les?" [Hello? Is this Safyan Sey'les?"]
["This is she,"] answered the familiar voice of Sey'les's older sister.
["Excellent,"] Edep answered. ["Lir Sey'les is here… Actually, it's a long—"]
"Homelo pam Safyan." ["Hello Safyan,"] Sey'les croaked, short white fur twirling with embarrassment.
["Lir?!"] Safyan's voice gasped.
["Uh yeah. So, funny story, I am going to be moving back—"]
["—That's wonderful—But the Republic is still at war, are they not? Have you been hurt?"]
Closing her eyes, Sey'les let out an anguished sigh. ["Look, some things have happened and maybe I'll talk about them… Later. But for now I am wondering if you can pick me up and if I can stay at your place until I settle down."]
["Certainly,"] Safyan answered reassuringly. ["Dzoresk does not get off work until 5 though, so we won't be able to pick you up for an hour."]
["That's fine,"] Sey'les smiled. Maybe there will be a store selling fur dye… Maybe I can dye my fur black, or pink, or brown or anything less unusual. Then I'll just have to explain why I also cut off my mane…
["I'll see you then,"] Safyan's voice came through warmly.
["See you,"] Sey'les sighed in relief.
Edep turned off the subspace radio, angling the shuttle down onto a snowy tarmac. "It's settled then."
Sey'les picked up her duffel bag, saying nothing.
"You are going to have to meet with a probation officer once a week," the Marshall explained gruffly. "Here is his contact information."
"Thank you." Sey'les took the card punching the info into her datapad.
Edep's fur gave one guilty twitch. "I am sorry about this. I am really trying to do my best."
"I know and thank you."
"One last bit of advice," Edep growled thoughtfully. "Just keep your head down. Don't amount to anything, you know?"
Sey'les scowled as she stepped out into the cold air. Don't amount to anything? Why don't you shut up, Edep?
o.o.o.o.o
Itoll Oc'skar
Thellus Asteroid, Dressel System
Itoll's fur twirled unhappily as he gazed upon the peaceful form of his brother Klaes. While Itoll was stranded along with the rest of the 12th Army on MGX-93776, a group of Mandalorian extremists had conducted the worst terrorist attack in Bothan history. At some point during the events, Klaes was shot and had been comatose in New Aroo Hospital ever since.
"He's been like this for a year?"
"No, he's been improving," insisted Neris, Klaes's wife. "Look, squeeze his hand."
Sighing, Itoll followed her instructions, grasping Klaes's hand. He squeezed it and felt… something. Perhaps it was—
—Klaes squeezed his hand hard, prompting Itoll to gasp in shock. "Huh. Klaes do you know it's me?"
"He doesn't respond… Nokiz respond yet, at least" Neris gulped. "But this means he's not brain dead."
"Yeah," Itoll agreed, still not feeling nearly as hopeful as Neris. In the midst of thoughts about Klaes's prognosis, his datapad buzzed. It was Azi'skar calling. "Sorry Neris, I have to take this."
"Go ahead," Neris sighed, putting her hands leaning on the edge of Klaes's bed.
Itoll swiped to answer then held it to his ear. "Have you heard any updates on Sey'les?"
"She's been sentenced to internal exile on Bothawui."
"The kriff does that mean?!" Itoll snarled, backing out of the room into the hospital corridor. "I thought you said the Spacer Coalition rescued Sey'les—"
"—That's not what I said," Azi'skar retorted. "I said we contributed to the rescue—"
"—Exile where?!"
"Ashnenvisk, her hometown."
"All right then," Itoll growled. "I guess I am accompanying you to the Both system after all. You can drop me off on Bothawui."
"That is a terrible idea," Azi'skar scoffed. "Sey'les is the most unpopular Bothan in the whole slice—at least with the Spynet. If you visit her, it puts you right back on their radar!"
"Respectfully, High Councillor, I don't care." Itoll hung up angrily, fuming that Azi'skar had not only lied about his involvement with Sey'les's rescue, but then allowed Sey'les to be processed by the Bothawui justice system.
Neris leaned through the doorway. "You're going?"
"Only for a short while," Itoll groaned, closing his eyes.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop," Neris stammered, fur swirling with embarrassment.
"It's fine. It's not you, it's just—"
"—If you want, you are welcome to continue staying with us," Neris interrupted. "The kids love to have you around."
Itoll looked back into the room at his comatose brother. His fur twitched with guilt. Somehow, sleeping in his sister-in-law's house just felt wrong, even though nothing was going on. Would Klaes have wanted me to stay there or find a hotel room?