Last time: Kyr learned what happened with his wife.
Now: Oppie, Viran, and Kait go to see Cien... Selina?... Her.
Chapter 11- Is It Really You?
"Reverse nuo." Oppie stated, playing his card.
"So it's your turn, again?" Kait asked, glancing up at him from above her cards.
"Oh, uh…" Oppie said. "I don't have any greens." He said as he sighed and took from the stack. "Nope." He drew another. "Nope. Nope, nope." He started to get exasperated as he kept drawing. "Okay finally." He said as he slapped a green seven down.
Kait threw a green four down.
Oppie looked at her annoyed. "Do you have all the greens?"
"You'll find out." She said with a smirk as she looked at him mischievously.
Oppie rolled his eyes as he looked around the medbay. They were sitting in Sasha's curtained off recovery space as she slept silently next to them, and he and Kait had pulled stools over to play Nuo to pass the time.
"Nope." Oppie said annoyed again. "Nope, nope, nope, nope." He drew another three cards. "By the force you really do have all of the greens, don't you - finally!" He said slapping down a blue four.
Kait smirked at her five cards. "Hmmmm…" She said in a considering manner, as she reached out to the deck and drew. "Ha!" She exclaimed as she threw down a wild card. "Green." She stated.
Oppie grumbled under his breath as he reached for the deck again.
At that moment, the curtain parted to reveal Viran looking more awake than he did this morning at breakfast with a steaming cup of caf at hand. He looked from Sasha's sleeping form to them playing their game and smirked.
"Hey guys," Viran said, bemused. "Having fun?"
"Yeah, I am." Kait said with an evil grin.
"I hate the color green." Oppie groused as he rolled his eyes, drawing another yellow card and adding it to his overly populated hand. "You did shuffle these, right?" He asked.
"Yeah." Kait answered with poorly hidden amusement.
Viran chuckled as he watched them play. "So aside from Kait kicking your butt at this game, Op, how is Sash doing?" He asked, gesturing towards Sasha. He then took a sip of caf.
Oppie leaned back and shook his head. "No change." He said, glancing at Sasha.
"Hm," Viran nodded, looking at his wife with a slight frown. He then looked back at their game. "So have you guys seen Kyr or know how he's doing?" He asked after another sip of caf.
"No," Kait answered, "we've basically been here ever since breakfast."
"Ah. I was just curious. I haven't seen him either," Viran said, slightly worried as he sat on the edge of the other side of the bed. "I admit," he continued after a moment, "even though I was able to get some sleep, I couldn't stop thinking about what Kyr said in regards to Selina. Or Cien."
"Yeah." Oppie said. "I don't know how to help things." He said worriedly.
"I'm not sure either," Viran admitted with a shrug. "I've been trying to think of what we could do to help, but my mind is blank." He then took a sip of caf. "Or I just need more caffeine." He added with a slight smirk.
"Yeah." Oppie said thoughtfully. "Do you think she would talk to us, now that she's talked to Kyr?" He suggested.
"Possibly," Viran said with a considering expression. "But she could also still only want to talk to Kyr too. So I'm not sure."
"Well, what if we went to go see?" Kait said. "If it is Cien I'd think she would want to talk with you guys."
"Like right now?" Viran asked, looking at her.
"Yeah, sure?" Kait replied, "why not?"
Oppie glanced at Sasha then over to Kait, then up to Viran. "We can at least go see if she'll talk with us." He said in agreement.
"Yeah, alright," Viran said as he stood. "It's worth a shot, I guess. Maybe she can tell us what's going on with Sasha too." He added as he looked at his wife as they cleaned up the cards.
The three of them walked out of the medbay after a moment, stepping into the corridor as they turned to head towards the brig. The mood between them was somber, as if they were walking towards a funeral. After a few seconds Kait cleared her throat. "So…" she started. "You guys haven't encountered anything like this before?" She asked, for lack of any better way to break the silence.
"Which part? Cien transferring into Selina's mind or Sasha being stuck in the mindspace?" Viran asked, raising an eyebrow as he glanced at her.
"Uhhh… The transfering part," Kait said unsure, "but both, I guess, really."
Oppie glanced at Viran. "Yeah, Sasha has been trapped in the mindspace before." He said noncommittally.
"That's actually how Sasha and Cien, and, well, the rest of us, met," Viran added after a moment.
"Really?" Kait asked, curiously, but sensing how evasive Op and Viran were about it. "What happened?" She asked.
Oppie sighed, that topic hadn't come up before. "Cien originally came from a pretty dark background." He started, trying to figure out what to say.
"When she was an empress?" Kait used curiously as they turned a corner.
"No, before that." Oppie said, trying to think of a way to explain it. "Remember when I told you Sith are usually violent and try to kill Jedi, after that case with Hondo?"
"Yeah?" Kait asked, even more curiously, but feeling some trepidation from where the conversation was going. Oppie and Viran certainly looked uneasy.
"I told you that Cien is very much an exception to that. She wasn't always." Oppie said. "When we first met she tracked us down on Vestora and, uh… attacked us. She was trying to get something from me."
Kait rose an eyebrow at that, looking between the other two.
"Cien tried to get Sasha to tell her where the thing was," Viran added, quietly after a moment. "She used the mindspace on Sasha, but Sasha was able to face her. They actually fought each other in there, but…" He paused, clearing his throat. "But it caused Sasha to be trapped, kind of like she is now."
"This was years before we met Cien properly and, well, a lot has changed since then." Oppie said defensively, for Cien's sake.
"Well how did she get out then?" Kait asked.
"Uh, there were a couple of things that helped her," Viran said, looking off ahead of them. "I got her to a medical center to help her as her health took a turn for the worst. And the other was me reaching out to her in the Force. I'm not sure if those were the only things, but she told me that me calling out to her helped." He said a bit thoughtfully as he remembered Sasha saying that to him.
"Hmm, and we've tried all that." Kait observed.
"Yeah." Oppie replied.
"This time is definitely different than then," Viran said as they reached the lifts. "I just wish Cien was here to help her." He added after a moment as they stopped before the lifts.
"You guys can't use this mindspace thing at all?" Kait asked.
"No," Oppie replied, shaking his head as they stepped into the turbo lift after the doors opened. "Just Sasha and Cien seem to be able to use it. And there are records of others. Dracul could also use it."
"But I've been in there a few times with both Sasha and Cien," Viran said as he hit the button for the brig. "But it's an incredibly rare ability. At least according to them."
"Yeah, I've only been in there with Sasha a few times, when I was trapped in the world between worlds to talk with her." Oppie said, shaking his head slightly, remembering that episode like it was a lifetime ago.
"It's really impressive what they can do in there," Viran said as the lift went down. "They can usually find each other or others with it, sift through memories, communicate with each other, and I think possibly much, much more." He looked at Kait. "It's pretty incredible really."
"I remember when Sasha used it on J'onz." Kait said, "I wasn't quite sure what I was seeing."
"It's not as impressive on the outside as it is in the mindspace," Viran said, remembering that too.
"Maybe when this is over we can ask them to show us what it's like." Oppie suggested, trying to sound hopeful. "All I remember was Sasha and I talking in a dark void, but it does sound like they're able to do a lot more. Especially after Sasha and Cien have spent so much time training together." He finished as the lift opened.
"I'd definitely be curious." Kait said. "All your Force powers, I feel like I learn a new one every day." She glanced at Op. "And you just told me they were for lifting baked goods around." She said with a teasing smirk.
Op glanced at her with bemusement but didn't say anything.
Viran smirked. "They are always good for that," he said with a chuckle as he shot Oppie a bemused glance as the lift arrived.
The lift doors opened out onto the deck with the brig facilities. Deep in the ship, amongst the other sections that could afford to be in less easily accessed sections, and away from windows and accouterments where crew comfort or efficiency made their placement paramount. It was stowed away amongst the water storage tanks, and, as Kyr had pointed out, the sewage tanks. And it had an almost cave like atmosphere being buried so deeply in such a utilitarian section of the Defiant's bulk.
They approached the doors to the brig, entering the facility. They nodded at the security guard that was at the station. They then walked into the cell block where Selina was. Two Marines were, as always, stationed outside of her cell. Oppie nodded to them as they passed by, stepping into the small antechamber with the door closing behind them. On the other side of the ray shield Selina, or Cien, sat at the edge of her bed, looking down at her clasped hands.
Viran regarded her for a moment then briefly glanced at the others then back. "Selina? Or Cien?" He asked, unsure of how else to talk to her, but curious to see her response. "We know what's sort of going on. Kyr told us." He then added after a second.
"Viran?" Selina's voice asked as she looked up at them slowly. "Op?"
"Yes?" Oppie responded, not quite sure what to make of this.
"Cien, is it really you?" Viran asked, narrowing his brow.
"Yes." Selina said, looking up at them. Her eyes shifted to look at Kait, but focused back on Viran and Oppie. "It's me."
Oppie glanced at Viran, then at Kait. "Can you tell us how we met?" Oppie asked.
"On… Vestora." She said, hesitantly, having to visibly think of it. "You had a holocron fragment." She said, looking at Oppie.
"How many times have we… dueled each other? Before you joined the family?" Viran asked carefully.
Cien blinked and Selina's eyes cast downward, as if she was having trouble remembering. "Once." She said, looking up at Viran. "Once on Polis Massa and… no, twice, another time." She said. "In the cave." She glanced between Op and Viran. "Do you believe me now?" She asked tiredly.
"Do you remember what you told me in the kitchen?" Kait asked, still not quite convinced.
Selina's eyes shifted to look at her, and Cien furrowed her brow for a moment as she considered Kait "No, I…" She paused, "everything is a jumble, it is hard to recall some things."
"Do you remember what happened at the conference?" Viran asked, almost desperately to see if they could answer the questions that had been bothering them for a while now.
"Not really." Cien said confusedly. "I was just attending the conference. I went to the bathroom and someone came in as I was washing my hands. They injected me with something and everything went black."
Viran felt himself sigh internally. "What about when you woke up?"
"I was chained to the same sort of wall like Kyr." She said simply, looking down. "I woke up and she was there." She said, looking up at Viran and Op. "Do you think I can come out of the cell?" She asked.
"Selina can't be let out." Oppie answered, "I'm sorry."
"Okay." Cien said absently, and Oppie noted some annoyance flash across her eyes as she sat on the edge of her bed, looking down at her clasped hands. .
"Do you know what happened or what's happening with Sasha?" Viran asked, finally asking the question that had been bothering him specifically.
"No?" Cien asked, looking up at them through Selina. "She let me out, I was trapped in…. Her." Cien gestured at Selina's body with her hands, "before Sasha set me free. She's not well?" She asked.
Viran furrowed his brow. He would have assumed Cien could sense Sasha's current condition, but maybe she wasn't as connected to the Force in her current state compared to being in her own body. "No, not at the moment," he settled upon for his answer.
"Hmmm." Cien said, furrowing her brow.
Kait glanced at Oppie. He was looking at Cien trapped in Selina's body, and he had a look of unsurety about him that she recognized from their cases together. There was something about this that was nagging at Kait as well, but she couldn't put her finger on it. "Why go through the trouble to transfer into her body?" Kait asked, pressing lightly.
Cien looked at her, a bit of confusion on Selina's face, perhaps tinged with a hint of… annoyance? "If I disabled… her but I was still chained to the wall, it wouldn't have fixed anything. It would have just delayed the inevitable. The only thing I could do was… this." She said, gesturing at Selina's body again. "It would make it so I could do something. Maybe even pretend to be her to let my body be released." She said, looking away from Kait towards Op and Viran.
"But then your body was taken?" Viran asked with a furrowed brow.
"Yes." Cien said. "Selina woke up and I was trapped in her mind, not quite able to do anything. But I could look out and see everything she experienced. She woke up in their sickbay, and someone had damaged the ship and taken my body. One of her higher ranking lieutenants, apparently."
"Then left the ship," Viran finished quietly.
"Yes." Cien replied. "In an escape pod."
"Once we figure out where they took your body, we will get it back," Viran said reassuringly.
"I just want the twins." Cien said quietly, curling into herself. "And Kyr." She finished even more quietly.
"Can you transfer back into your body?" Kait asked. Oppie glanced at her.
She looked up pointedly at Kait, and then to Op and back to Kait. Some confusion was again evident in her countenance. "Yes." She answered.
Kait was a little taken aback by the terseness of her reply. She hadn't really seen that side of Cien at all other than the first time they had met when she'd been suffering from that migraine. "How are you feeling?" Kait asked.
Cien glanced at her through Selina's eyes, and there was a hint of annoyance again. "Fine." She replied.
Kait glanced at Op on that, and he was looking at Cien a little confused as well.
Viran also looked at Cien a little confused by her response. He briefly glanced at Oppie and Kait before looking back at Cien. "Well…" He cleared his throat. "I guess is there anything you need at the moment? I guess aside from the obvious." He gestured loosely to the cell as a whole and even her current state.
Cien grimaced, closing Selina's eyes as if she had a headache. "Nothing you can provide." She said tersely. She seemed to catch herself, "I'm sorry, this is a lot."
"That's understandable." Oppie replied.
"We'll try and help however we can," Viran said, uncertain of what else to say, but feeling the need to comfort his… sister.
"Thank you." Cien said tiredly.
"Yes, whatever you need we're here to help." Oppie said in agreement.
"I appreciate it." Cien said even more tiredly.
"Yeah." Kait said in agreement. "This isn't nearly as difficult as figuring out what to do with your hair." She said, trying to make a joke of the awkward situation, to try to get her friend to smile.
Cien glanced up at her with a furrowed brow. "No, I guess not." She replied absently, if a little confused again. "I -" she clutched her head suddenly in her hands and grimaced terribly. Then she took a deep breath and suddenly looked up at them with nothing but hatred and malice. "Have a nice little visit?" Selina asked, fuming as she took ragged breaths.
Viran tried not to frown or scowl, but his lips twitched trying to do one or the other. "Selina. Yes, we did," he said a little too sharply.
"How wonderful for you all." Selina growled. "Go. Away." She ordered as she recoiled back onto her bunk, ignoring them.
Oppie glanced at Kait and Viran and shook his head, gesturing for the door as he turned to go. Viran shot a glare at Selina then followed Oppie out, Kait lingered for a moment but followed them out.
The door closed behind them, and Kait spoke up after a moment. "That was strange." She observed.
"Yeah, yeah it was," Viran agreed as he ran a hand through his hair. "But I guess we know that it's her."
"Yeah." Oppie agreed.
"Or…" Kait started, something about the situation nagging her.
"Or what?" Viran asked, glancing at her curiously.
"Something seemed off." Kait replied.
"A little, perhaps, but given the circumstances I can kind of understand." Oppie said.
"Yeah, me too," Viran nodded. "So now what do we do?" He asked after a moment.
"I'm not sure." Oppie said. "I guess we just try to figure out who this lieutenant is that took Cien's body, and where they might be."
"Yeah." Kait said, still distracted.
"Alright, then I might go check in with Dravis and see what he found," Viran said, starting to move towards the lifts. "See if we can find Cien's body."
"You okay?" Oppie asked Kait. She was hesitating still.
"Fine." She said with a shrug as she started moving and Op took her hand as they followed Viran towards the lift.
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