Laylah looked at Irin who had also woken up, though she just seemed to lie there with her eyes open, blinking idly at the ceiling. It was hard to tell what time of day it really was on Nar Shaddaa with the sheer amount of neon lighting. Laylah had long since decided that the time on Nar Shaddaa was a constant. Neon-time, she called it.
"Irin?" Laylah asked.
"Yeah?"
"Mother's not here."
Irin tilted her head and sat up. The pain had largely subsided and she had stopped bleeding from her nose and lip.
"She's probably at the Slopes," Irin replied, slipping out of bed and walking over to the door. "let's go see her, hm?"
Laylah hopped out of bed and followed her sister out of the door. Nar Shaddaa was largely quiet at this time of day, leading Laylah to believe that it was, in fact, morning. The walk across the Promenade to the Slippery Slopes was uneventful, which is what one would expect from a short walk; this was on Nar Shaddaa, however, so the uneventful walk seemed strange.
The two girls made their way through the front door, the Gammorrean grunted at them as they passed, but otherwise barely acknowledged them as they went in. Inside was the familiar smell of alcohol and narcotics, though the scent of spacers had long since passed.
"Um... Excuse me," Laylah asked as the two walked up to the bar where a young Mirialan was cleaning the counter.
"Slopes is no place for a pair of ladies of your age," he responded with a frown, though Laylah and Irin did not seem phased.
"Have you seen our mother? She works here an-..."
"Oh, Red?" the Mirialan paused and looked behind him to see if anyone else was around, "I, uh... Well..."
"You will come with me if you want to find out." A large man in armour emerged from a room off from the bar. He was a Hutt Cartel enforcer, that much was obvious and it put the two girls on edge. However, worry for their mother prevailed.
"Where is she?" Irin asked, stepping forwards. The man simply grinned, walking over to the girls and shoving Irin towards the door.
"I don't like repeating myself. You can come willingly or unwillingly, I get paid either way."
Irin shot him a venomous look before walking towards the door where another two enforcers stood.
"Picking on children? Well aren't you just the image of politeness." Laylah spat the words with venom as she walked past the man, who merely shrugged, his bulky armour clanking as he followed the two of them. The two girls remained silent for the walk, though it was not far before they reached the chambers of Dirruda the Hutt, the same Hutt that their father owed money to, amongst others perhaps but Dirruda was the first to act on it.
"Ah, the two little ones," Dirruda spoke out in Huttese as they approached where he dwelt, a Twi'lek dancer manoeuvring about a pole to his right like her life depended on it. In all likelihood, it probably did. "Now, you see, your mother collapsed whilst working last night and I can't get what is owed to me from a corpse."
At that Irin burst from her position, rushing at the Hutt, but she was swiftly brought down by an electro-dart to her back, sending her to the ground in a spasm as the electricity coursed through her body. It was not a fatal amount, but it was enough to completely knock her out cold, a combination of youth and malnutrition meant that she was just not able to deal with the trauma.
"Now, now," Dirruda uttered as he shook his head, if it could be called a head, "defiance like that will serve you ill, girl." He turned his attention to Laylah. "You can fill her in later, but the debt must fall to next of kin. Since your father has disappeared from the Cartel, that leaves you two until my bounty hunters find him." He grabbed some sort of creature from a bowl next to him. It was small and still squirming as he placed his hand on it and shoved it into his wide mouth, chewing it briefly before swallowing.
"So, how will we do that? We're a couple of starving children, not exactly profitable." To Laylah, Huttese came just as easily as Basic. Living on Nar Shaddaa was a sure way to learn the two languages over the years.
The Hutt looked at the two scrawny figures before him and laughed. "That was because before you were just liabilities. Property gets maintained."
"Property?" Laylah asked as another figure, a Kaleesh male with a vibroblade and a mean expression, walked into the room.
"To settle your father's debt, the two of you will be sold to Jig Shelai here," Dirruda answered, gesturing at the Kaleesh.
"You said they were in selling condition, Dirruda," the Kaleesh argued, eyeing the two of them.
"They are capable. As long as you maintain them like the rest, they should be fine."
"That's not what we agreed, Hutt," the Kaleesh accused, though he looked around at the armed enforcers and sighed, reaching into a pouch on his belt.
"Hey, you can't sell us! We're not property!" Laylah argued, though she was quickly restrained by a pair of enforcers.
"Maybe your father shouldn't have built up such a debt in my casino," the Hutt responded as Laylah felt the cool, metallic sensation of a slave collar being clamped around her neck. She watched as they placed a similar collar on Irin.
"Whatever. A pleasure, as always Dirruda," the Kaleesh concluded, "if you happen upon any more questionable property, I would be happy to fence it for you." He bowed and led Laylah out of the door, a Houk coming to pick up Irin before following the two out.
"This isn't right," Laylah argued, though she did not resist. She knew what shock collars could do, and she did not feel like being in the same state as her twin.
"Eh, galaxy's full of worse. Now shut up and keep walking," the Kaleesh responded with a shrug.
Laylah sighed and kept walking. She did not like her new situation. Suddenly her old predicament in the run down apartment block seemed like heaven.