**Thanks and acknowledgment given to Wookiepedia for the info on Castellan restraints**
Maura tossed and turned, her dreams of the evening making her relive the event. Aric lay beside her, not wanting to disturb her rest but wondering if she was really resting when she was so agitated. Finally he sat up, gently shaking her shoulder. Maura's eyelids fluttered open and the anxiousness that he saw in her eyes disappeared when she looked into his. "What's wrong, honey? Bad dreams?" he asked her with a sleep roughened voice. She only nodded, unable to voice the turmoil of her thoughts, and put her hand on his bare chest, seeking the comfort of his arms, which he readily gave her. She snuggled into his warmth, and he could feel her heartbeat return to normal, her breathing even out. "Better?" he asked her, kissing her head as she nodded. He thought she'd gone back to sleep when she spoke.
"Maybe Garza is right, and Jurin has no involvement. Problem is, I can't think of anyone else I met or saw tonight that fits the criteria of the leak. What if we're off track here?" She turned her face up to look into his eyes, and saw that he had doubts now as well.
"All we can do is keep looking. We should hear something from the transponder station tomorrow, maybe that will give us a better idea." He gently squeezed her against him. "Meanwhile, since we are already awake…" he said, running his hand along her side. She grinned before she kissed him, but the sliver of doubt remained, just floating in her head.
Magdalane felt her sister's confusion, and since she'd gone to sleep so early, was now wide awake and felt rested for a change. She could feel Felix's body against her back and it made her smile. He was always so steady, so solid. She reached out with the force to see what the status of everyone was, and smiled when she felt Aric and Maura. Miriah and Corso were both sleeping deeply, and she felt her mom sleeping as well. All the kids were resting well, and she felt her son stir inside her. No, little one, this is resting time, she thought. She shifted slightly and felt her son grow quiet. Felix was finally sleeping, his face relaxed in slumber, and she wanted to kiss him but stopped herself. No, he's so stressed with making sure everyone's okay, I can't wake him, she thought. Instead, she sent out a gentle flow of calming energy to the whole group, and closed her eyes. She wasn't asleep but was resting when she felt Felix reach for her, assuring himself that she was still there. His arm draped over her swollen waist and when Ian felt the weight on her stomach, he responded with a sharp kick, making his mother smile. Only a couple more months, she thought, and our little family will be complete. She was in a semiconscious state when her force sense alerted her to a sudden spike of terror nearby, at the same time their door chime started ringing incessantly.
Corso, ever vigilant, reached the door first, Torchy in his hand. Felix had joined him, and asked Corso what was going on. Corso shrugged, and looked at the security screen to see Helena Garza in a panic, and he hit the panel to unlock the door. Garza entered, grabbing Corso's forearms, tears streaming down her face.
"You have to help! Where's Magdalane? He needs her, quickly!" She was still holding on to Corso when the women joined them in the living room. "Magdalane, it's Gregor…Colonel Jurin. Please, come now!" She turned, still holding onto Corso and pulled him out into the hallway, making a sprint across to her apartment. He followed, glancing over his shoulder at Miriah and pointing to his chest. She ran to their room and grabbed a shirt then joined the others at Garza's door. She handed the shirt to her husband and he gratefully pulled it over his head. Garza was fumbling at her door code, finally just slapping it in frustration. She turned to the group and put her head in her hands, took a deep breath and entered her code once again, which she'd managed to get right. Aric turned to Maura then, and got her attention.
"Maura, the kids.." he started, then saw Sarai wave at them from their doorway, and he took a deep breath. "Thank the stars for your mom," he told Maura, getting a smile from her. He swung around to see what the fuss was about.
The group entered the meticulously neat apartment, and saw Jurin. He was standing still, a totally blank look on his face, and he didn't look up when the group entered. Garza approached him and put her hand on his arm, having finally let go of Corso. Jurin turned his eyes to her, but there was no recognition, no response.
"What happened here, General?" Magdalane asked in a hushed voice. Felix stood beside her, holding her hand, feeling her cool calm wash over the group.
"We were talking, having a nightcap, and suddenly he just…just…checked out. He hasn't spoken since, just stands there, staring." The general had changed out of her formal dress, but Jurin was still in his much decorated uniform, lending his lack of presence even more gravity. Magdalane approached him, reaching out to him with the force, trying to understand what was happening. She could see no biological issues other than those normal with age, but she could feel nothing of his mind. No presence at all, she thought, and that is very very bad. She looked at the general with compassion on her face. "I cannot find anything wrong with his body, general, but his mind is a total blank."
Garza paced, then turned to Jurin and said, "Gregor, sit down." He did, which surprised her, so she gave him another instruction. "Stretch out and rest, sleep if you want," she told him, her voice filled with gentleness and caring. He did as she said, closing his eyes, seeming at peace. Magdalane motioned them back out into the hallway, and they silently trooped back to their apartment, Garza following them.
Sarai had started the caffa and was waiting for them, anxious for her friend whom she could feel was confused and worried. She could see from the look on Mag's face that there was something serious going on. They all sat, and when Garza had caffa in front of her, Magdalane addressed the group. "When I scanned Jurin, there was nothing , and I mean nothing, going on in his mind. I know you all don't want to think about it, but this just might be a result of the application of the Castellan restraints." She looked around at the faces in front of her, seeing the horror on them that she felt when she'd realized Jurin's mind was a blank canvas. "That's why they were never expounded on, at least that we've been able to find. I don't know what or why, but somehow he was given this, this serum or drug or stim, however it's administered, and now it's wiped out everything." Garza sobbed, her hands covering her face.
"No, it can't be. He was there, then he was just different. How can a change like that be so sudden? You all saw him tonight, there was no change in his normal behavior, he was himself not twenty minutes ago. How can someone's mind just be here one minute and be totally gone the next, with no physical changes or injuries?" She looked around at the group, not able to comprehend what she'd seen.
Corso cleared his throat. "Ma'am, I don't know exactly the chemistry of it, it was beyond my understanding when I read about it, but apparently this drug causes the patient to respond to a certain set of instructions, sometimes by a keyword and sometimes by a key action. It supposedly takes about three weeks from the time it's given until the remapping is done, but I'm betting you unknowingly stumbled onto a keyword or sequence when you were talking that triggered this response." He looked at Magdalane with uncertainty, but relaxed when he saw her nodding at him.
"That's exactly what I think happened, Corso. And we read the same report, you understood it better than you thought," she told him, giving him a slight smile as he blushed. "Problem is, without knowing what the trigger was, how can we reset it? Or him?" she wondered out loud. Aric had been listening intently to the conversation and turned to start booting up the four terminals in the work area.
"Looks like some extensive research is in order here. Let's get going on this," he said as he walked over to the general. "General, it might be best for you to stay with him, keep him from getting up and wandering off or something. We'll let you know what we find here, just as soon as we find something."
"I'm going too, in case she needs help or just someone to talk to, " Sarai chimed in, getting a grateful look from Garza. They stood and walked out, Sarai's aura flaring briefly as they walked. Magdalane watched them, waiting for them to be in the other apartment before starting to talk again.
"If he's been programmed to have a total memory wipe at a certain keyword or at a certain time, then we may be out of luck here, but I won't give up just yet." She turned to Felix, who was watching her carefully, and reached out to put her hand on his. "I'm fine, love, I slept quite a long time since you made me go to bed so early." She smiled at him, and he felt her strength.
Miriah stood behind Corso, watching as he entered search terms and then waited to see what would pop up. She leaned over and kissed his cheek, and he pulled her into his lap, hugging her close. They didn't need words, their concern was mutual and as they always did, they turned to each other for comfort. "Thanks for the shirt, kitten. I need to remember to dress before I pick up a blaster," he told her in a low voice. "You should go lie down, try to rest some more." She snorted her laugh at him.
"Yeah, I'm sure I'd really get some sleep. You're here, I'm here. Besides, maybe if we find something soon.." she was interrupted by the computer's alert sound. "See? I'm your lucky charm," she laughed, kissing her husband before getting up so that he could read the screen.
"What did you find, Cor? Cause I got nothing here," Aric grumbled, sipping from his caffa mug.
"Well, I got some results on the holonet because I specifically didn't use a Republic engine. This is actually an Imperial document, and it's totally classified. I'll have to see if I can break the encryption, and it's going to take awhile," he sighed, his arm around his wife's waist, his head leaning on her. She stood there, silently stroking his hair.
"What about Jettison?" she asked him. "He might be able to help." She looked into the dark brown of Corso's eyes, seeing his indecision there.
"He might, but I have a feeling that once I start working on this, we may alert someone on the other end, and I don't want to put Jet in danger, especially if I'm not there to protect him." She saw the reluctance to even work on it himself, but knew he could do nothing else. She left him with his brow furrowed, deep in thought and his fingers flying over the keyboard, and walked to the kitchen to do what she did to deal with stress.
Maura joined her there, still glowing from having only just finished loving Aric when the door chime had gone nuts. "This is insane," she said to her younger sister, seeing Miriah's nod in response. "I can't help feeling sorry for the general, I think she really has a thing with this guy." She moved as Miriah started rolling dough on the countertop, and gathered the butter and cinnamon, setting them down near her sister's work area.
"Thanks," Miriah told her absently. "Thing is, what would they have been talking about that might have triggered this? I mean, surely a keyword or sequence would be fairly obscure, so that the victim wouldn't encounter it on a daily basis, right? So that makes me think that maybe it was predetermined that at this point in time he would trigger." She sighed, shaking her head. "I just don't know, Maura, how this would work. And why now? The dinner was totally uneventful, other than Corso dancing with me." She smiled at her sister's laugh. "Well, that was totally unexpected. He never dances other than in the kitchen at home." They worked together in silence, putting the rich ingredients into their places and making cinnamon rolls for the group. When the smell of sugar and cinnamon filled the air, they were suddenly joined by the others, who were all getting hungry.
"Damn, whatever it is smells amazing," Aric said, his stomach uttering an audible growl. He looked sheepish as he said, "well, I'm used to Miriah food. That food at the dinner was almost inedible compared to hers." They all agreed, and when Miriah caught Corso's eyes, he shook his head slightly. He still hadn't broken the encryption, but she knew he was working on it. They milled around the kitchen, getting drinks and plates together, anxiously waiting for the oven timer. When it dinged, and Miriah took the rolls out of the oven, Felix volunteered to take some to Garza's apartment. Miriah handed him the plate with a kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you, Felix, for being you," she told him, and he blushed as he walked to the door. Magdalane smiled, her youngest sister enjoyed making them all blush, she thought. When Felix returned, they all sat and ate together, talking not possible with their mouths all full. Corso had just finished his second cinnamon roll when the computer alert sounded, and he jumped up to hurry to the terminal. What he saw there was a partial encryption, but it was enough to make him lose his appetite.
"Summary: The Castellan restraints are designed for limited behavior modification in a high-risk subject. In effect, the subject is programmed to react to a keyword with total obedience. Long-term commands can be implanted, but with lowered effectiveness. Once programming is activated, the subject will be aware of his inability to control his actions but unable to revolt."
―Classified report, Imperial Intelligence Archives, Dromund Kaas[src]
Corso looked at the group, the apprehension apparent on his face. "I'm not sure we can do anything at all," he said, and hugged Miriah to him as the others mulled over this turn in events, no one having any ideas as to what would happen next.