Owner	Pose
Soren Cassias	It's evening and the sun is setting in Aklyrr Bend. Most folks, by now, have settled into their quarters or are lingering lazily near the dining hall. Zetha, however, probably has something different in mind for tonight... She'll see there's a single light on in the temporary structure serving as the colony infirmary, and know exactly where to go...
Zetha Rumir	Zetha has had some time to calm down, and a night to sleep things off. That doesn't make things better, it just means she's not going to come crashing through the infirmary door like a psycho. Instead, she approaches the structure, gives the door a quick knock and then lets herself in. One of these days she may not have to dump so much trauma. Unfortunately, today is not that day.
Soren Cassias	There's a few droids milling about, and a couple patients, but it's quiet otherwise. In the back, Dr. Cassias is sitting at a desk, bespectacled and poring over a datapad. "Zetha," he says, without looking up.
Zetha Rumir	"How'd you figure it was me?" Zetha asks, walking further inside and towards the back where his desk is. "It's good to see you, Doctor Cassias. Even if it's still under...not so great circumstances..." She offers this and then looks back at the few patients there before back to him. "Do you need me to come back later? I know it's late...ish."
Soren Cassias	"I've been expecting you," He says, looking up and taking off his glasses after a moment. "I figured you'd drop by around this time." He checks his chronometer. "No, no. Please." He gestures for her to sit. "Tell me what's on your mind."
Zetha Rumir	Zetha does take a seat, and then she takes a breath. "Well. There's a lot. I know you messaged me about finding out I was no longer staying in the convent, and you knew about something that happened between myself, Navi, and Cayde...but...I need to talk to you about something else. Something that happened at the junkyard last night..." And she'll go into it. Explaining about the marauder, how they have the cortosis now even though Soren had given it to the Mandalorians. Too bad she doesn't know now what she'll know in a couple days...
Soren Cassias	The doctor remains calm the entire time. He nods, listening intently to everything Zetha says. "I'm sorry that happened to you," he says softly and kindly. "How are you feeling now?"
Zetha Rumir	"Terrified!" Zetha exclaims and then shakes her head. "I can't..I can't do what the marauder wants me to do. But if I /don't/ do it I'm dead..." She continues, worrying her fingers together. "I need help. But I didn't know who to go to..."
Soren Cassias	"It's alright," the doctor continues, "you did the right thing in telling me." "Help," he says, "so you're saying, you plan to do it? You know, you don't have to. I don't want to put you in any more danger, Zetha, and you know the Jedi will do everything in their power to protect you. But let me see the probe."
Zetha Rumir	Zetha shakes her head. "Absolutely not. That's why I need help. I'm not doing it. I refuse to..." She says this while opening the pocket with the tiny probe and places it on the desk for Soren to see. "I know the Jedi will protect me. It's not just me though. It's Wiis too." Then she pauses. "I told him I would...but refusing was going to get Wiis killed right then and there. And likely me just after. It's hard to decline when there's a blaster being pointed at your head."
Soren Cassias	The doctor examines it. He takes a few moments to look it over, then sighs. "I'm going to be honest, Zetha. What the marauder did was cruel, but efficient. I see the wisdom in his methodology even if he did threaten you in order to get you to agree to it. He suddenly has that weary look again. "Do you remember the day we met? You were talking to that Mandalorian, the one clad in all black. I told you to let me know if he caused you any trouble. And I'm sorry if I haven't been completely truthful with you until now but it didn't concern you back then." "I was following that Mandalorian, Zetha. I'd seen him hanging around the Arkanians, who have been incredibly clandestine about the kind of research and experimentation they've been conducting using the Republic and Xera Graf's funds." "Somehow, they've managed to bar even me from a large portion of their work. And try as Thaarin might, it seems like every time I try to contact Coruscant about their strange behavior, the transmission gets caught up in bureaucracy, red tape, or some kind of government delay." "I think they have a hidden laboratory around here, that literally no one in the colony, aside from themselves and that Mandalorian, have seen. And I'm not sure what they're doing down there, but I know that it has to do with genetics, and the vergence."
Zetha Rumir	Zetha blinks and then blinks again. She remembers that night at the cantina. The Mandalorian she had gone to talk to. Jasper. If that was even his name. "He offered to take me to the lab. He thought someone like me would be really interested in what they were doing. He would have taken me that night...but I declined his offer..." She admits this and then shakes her head. "That's what Zealot - the marauder - had said. Or something along those lines. And Jasper had even talked genetics. That he was working on something involving them. I remember that much." Then she laughs, but it's something etched with disbelief or maybe even...well it's just -off- for being a laugh. "Makes sense though doesn't it? Take the orphan girl. The one with no family. No one who will care if she disappears...and make her disappear. That's kinda what this is starting to sound like...."
Soren Cassias	"He must have been watching you," the doctor says. "Ever since the incident with Hedicole, you've probably become an item of interest to him, and that's dangerous. I'm not sure I trust him, although it seems both Cayde and Navi are close with him, for one reason or another. Rykard, our former marshal, didn't trust him at all." He shakes his head. "Don't say that, Zetha," he continues, brows furrowing, "you know that I'd know right away if you went missing. Wiis, Thaarin, Cayde, Navi... they would too." "Look, you don't have to do this. I don't know how, but we'll figure out a way down into that laboratory... somehow." He massages his forehead, looking exhausted and stressed for a brief moment. "Before time runs out."
Zetha Rumir	"Well yeah, that's the truth now. But back then? When I was just first meeting everyone. There likely wouldn't have been a care in the galaxy back then." Which was only a stone's throw away ago if one really thinks about it. She sees how tired and stressed Soren looks. And he had mentioned Thaarin was working on this as well. "But what if it can help?" She suddenly says. "Like maybe I don't put the probe in...and I don't think I even have to seduce Jasper. He was willing to show me anyway...maybe I'm the way in that you all have needed. Nothing else has seemed to work, no offense, and as much as it seems you all have been looking for an answer..." She places that there. Perhaps to see what Soren thinks about it.
Soren Cassias	"What? No, Zetha, I could never expect you to go into a dangerous situation like that, alone," he says. "And I'm sure he definitely won't be keen on you bringing anyone along." "Even if we did, we can't risk having you be the only one to have gone down there and seen the laboratory with your own eyes. The Mandalorian would kill you if he found out you had any plan to share the information, and it would be for nothing, because then we'd have no intel on what they're really doing, if he got to you without us knowing." "No, we'd just send our own probe. And I'd prefer not to send you." "We do have to figure this out soon. I have a feeling they're on the cusp of finishing whatever it is they're working on. And I fear, that they cannot control it. People are going to die, Zetha. And I don't want anymore of that happening on my watch."
Zetha Rumir	"Wasn't thinking you would expect it. Was just saying it may be your only viable option." Zetha says this and then shrugs. "I mean, either way there's a mark on my head. If I don't find my way into the lab, I'm killed by a marauder. If I do, and Jasper suddenly suspects something, he'll kill me." She laughs again, shaking her head. "At least at that point any death I suffer won't be in vain." She hardens herself a little bit after that moment. "In other news. We tried to do a mind walking thing for Navi. It didn't go well. Then Cayde brought up the cortosis event again. I think he's hellbent on being told he did absolutely nothing wrong and have every right to be so adamant that he speak with his Master. So there was another argument. And that sort of overwhelmed me. So I packed up my stuff and went hiding in the junkyard. Was only a day or sao after that everything else happened..."
Soren Cassias	"It doesn't have to be like that," the doctor protests. "Cayde and Navi don't want you or Wiis dead, and they'll find a way to protect you from the marauder." But he sounds tired, and Zetha will be able to tell that as much as he doesn't want her hurt, he has no idea how to do it without her, in time. "Ah..." he says. "Maybe. But hardly anything is ever that black and white with Cayde. He's not that different from you, Zetha. He wants to be validated, to know that he's not constantly messing up and doing all wrong, and no right. I know he can be hard to get along with sometimes, but I'm glad you told me your side. I'll talk to him and Navi." "... I'm sorry. This hasn't been very therapeutic for you, has it?"
Zetha Rumir	Zetha doesn't speak for a moment. Then she offers, "Listen. You say you don't want more people to die, but that if whatever is going on in the lab gets finished, people will die. Nothing you or anyone else has done has worked so far. And until this moment, you didn't have an in. I'm not saying it's not risky. What I am saying is that it seems to be the one thing you haven't tried. And if we work it right, I'm sure no harm will come to me." When he asks that last question, she gives a shrug of her shoulders. "It's nice to be able to talk about things and not feel like the world in judging me." She then looks to him. "Is the other reason why you don't want to send me into the depths of danger is because you're somehow seeing me as the daughter you never had but always wanted?"
Soren Cassias	"I understand," He says, "but I'm telling you, -I- personally don't want you to. It's selfish, I know -" Then he hesitates, just before standing, and embraces her briefly. "Yes," he says softly. "You, and Luli, and every young person who came to me for help that I couldn't turn away. I don't want you to get hurt, Zetha. You've had enough problems in the past several weeks to last you a lifetime." "But if you really want to do this, then I can't stop you. You'll need to talk with Thaarin, and Vons. And of course, let our co-deputies know. Maybe we can find a way to have someone secretly accompany you." Then he releases her. "Thank you for stopping by. I'm sorry I couldn't provide solutions, but I'm grateful for your company. However, I do need to finish up paperwork tonight."