Shard can't help but laugh, quietly.  It's not mocking at all; if anything it's self=deprecatory.  With effort, she clears her mind of distractions and allows her responses to flow through her thoughts un-tarnished by the detritus of stress and worry.

~ Please don't be concerned...I'm not frightened of <i>you  I'm frightened by all babies. ~</i>

With that confession out of the way, she continues. ~ My name is Shard, though you probably already know that.  Do you have a name, yet?  What should I call you? ~

"That's a surprise." the man's voice sounds genuinely shocked, if somewhat bitter, "I'd heard that you Rebels were all too cowardly to exert any sort of authority.  I'm actually impressed.  Well done."  The chair creaks as he makes himself more comfortable.

The infant seems to stare at Shard curiously.

Juragga rumbled and kept trying to repair the light.

OOC: Not sure what to roll here?

Rhijans snorted audibly.  "Right.  Because cowards always infiltrate the Imperial flagship to get someone out of detention.  If all Imperials are as observant as that, it's a wonder they ever manage to point their weapons in the right direction."  He took an easy step back and off to one side...while he didn't expect the tech to actually try anything, the man's attempts at antagonizing them indicated either a lack of good judgment or a sort of death wish that might drive him to try and make a break for escape, and if either case were true, Rhijans didn't want to be in the same position the tech had observed...in a seated position, he could try a blind kick to disarm his captor.  If Rhijans was no longer in the same place, that attempt would be futile.

Juragga continues to prod and poke at the lighting panel, even though it's really too dark for him to see much (and even if it were light enough to see, his hands would block most of his view).

There is a sudden *crack*, and the distinctive stench of singed hair, and the light returns, albeit at a somewhat lower intensity than before.  The tech says nothing.  He just closes his eyes and sighs.

Haarmon got to work on You-Why. "No one wants to shoot you in the core," he muttered under his breath, "Well, no more than anyone wants to shoot anyone. We mostly just want to see what's the deal with you making noises you don't remember making."

He shut the droid down and opened its panels and got to work with the diagnostic machinery.

He'd done all this before. But he must have missed something.

Shut down as he is, You-Why is not a good conversationalist, something which encourages Haarmon to work faster - the silence is unnerving.

Child, is it?  Shard purses her lips in a thoughtful moue.  "All right," she murmurs, under her breath.  Then the older woman returns her attention to the baby she carries.  ~ I understand the idea.  Very well, child.  I am certain Haarmon has asked you this already, but I'm a little curious myself. ~

~ What do you want? ~

Rational, calm, focused...all good words to describe this child.  Hence, it seems likely to have desires of one kind or another, even if only to 'find its mother'.  And they may be able to help.

The smell of burned hair fills the room, and doesn't seem to be clearing.  Finally the tech screws up his face, then says, "If I answer some questions, can I please be moved to a room that doesn't stink of singed Wookiee?  And soon?"

The alien child looks at Shard and smiles.

Rhijans showed teeth in a mock-apologetic smile.  "I don't have any questions for you.  That's someone else's job.  I thought you Imperial types were supposed to be made of stronger stuff...you've caused far worse than singed hair on a Wookiee paw, after all."

He shrugged.  "Guess it's harder to stomach when you're not out in orbit and actually have to be down in the mess."  His voice and expression hardened as he spoke, giving a pretty strong indication that he had no sympathy for the tech's current plight.

Harrmon muttered a few words that were not drawing-room-approved and kept digging.

OOC: does this look like deliberate sabotage? Would this cause the weird whistling? Is there anything to make Haarmon think the droid is sending coded messages?

~ Haarmon is correct, as he often is. ~ She's fairly certain Haarmon won't get a dangerously swollen head if the child spills the compliment to her student. ~ Dawl isn't far, and should be safe.  She's likely the best possible teacher you could have, hereabouts. ~  The younger woman's command of the Force had been readily apparent when first they met, and she's had months to continue her studies.  ~ Poor Haarmon is stuck with me, sadly. ~

~ What is the Clade?  And do you wish to lead it? ~

Shard knows all about enforced responsibilities...and doesn't like them.

"I'm a tech.  I'm not a gunner, or a pilot, or a stormtrooper.  I'm not an officer, and I've never given a command to hurt anybody, or carried out such a command, to the best of my knowledge."  The Imperial shakes his head slowly.  "No.  My whole career has been spent down in the guts of a star destroyer.  It's pretty warm and comfortable down there.  And the lights work.  I fix lighting panels sometimes, or environmental systems.  Oh, and sometimes I work on the sanitation systems.  Why?  Because they pay me to do it, and I get fed well."

"Does fixing lights, heating, and plumbing make me a criminal or a tyrant?"

You-Why lays completely still as Haarmon examines him.

Rhijans shrugged.  "Maybe not.  Doesn't make you a judge of anyone else's character, either.  Stick to what you know and spare us the commentary on our competence.  There's still time to fly back up to orbit and throw you out an airlock if you prove to be too much of a pain in the posterior."  There was a good chance, judging by his body language and emotionless voice, that he wasn't kidding or making an idle threat...he wasn't overtly hostile, at all, and not really in any subdued manner, either...he sounded bored, if anything, although his eyes gave no indication that his attention was wandering.

Juragga turned and, smoking slightly, snarled at the tech.

Shard leans back in her seat.  "Well, that's fair," she murmurs, and takes a quick glance around herself.  Nobody in the area.  "All right then," the older woman begins, then clips herself off with an embarrassed snort.

~ All right, ~ she continues silently. ~ That doesn't sound too bad.  And, I admit, it would have been nice to have a hundred person family when I was growing up. ~  Though leading it would have probably been a bad idea, in her case. ~ So let's just wait for Haarmon to come back, and he can take you to Dawl. ~

Haarmon had, after all, said he would; Shard has grasped enough of her companion's perspective to feel he'd likely be upset if he couldn't.

Well, Haarmon was now more confused than he was when he started. There was nothing worse than going looking for a solid yes or no and finding a big fat maybe-so. And the stakes were high. He made the wrong call here and things could be bad. Very bad.

He decided he needed some consensus on this one.

Leaving You-Why turned off, he went back to find everyone else to give them a sit-rep. Finding Shard sitting by herself with the little one.

"Hey! How's Princess Poopy-pants?" he fought the urge to reach out for her. He was surprised at how much he already thought of her as 'his' responsibility and at how powerfully he just wanted to hold her himself. But he resisted. The baby wasn't 'his' and she wasn't his responsibility either. She was everyone's.

"You guys having a good talk? She isn't much for existential debate, but she sure makes good conversation, huh?"

A pause.

"Everyone else playing with the Imp? Cuz we need to talk about the Tin Professor. Nothing bad, but there's a decision to be made and I don't want to make it."

To Juragga's credit, the Imperial actually flinches when he is snarled at, and closes his mouth with an audible snap, biting off whatever response he had been about to make to Rhijans.

The infant smiles happily when she catches sight of Haarmon, but the smile fades almost immediately, and is replaced by something that resembles a puzzled frown.

Shard shakes her head in bemusement as Haarmon approaches, and despite him holding back, picks up their new 'ward' and holds her out.  "Come here, Haarmon; you can hold her and talk at the same time."  Pause for thought, as she processes Haarmon's words.  'The Professor'...

Oh.

~ Something's on his mind.  I think it's about the droid: You-Why. It's possible he's hurt...emotionally.~

Whether or not Haarmon takes the child, she settles herself back down in the chair, growing more serious.  "All right, Haarmon.  She's...interesting, to be sure.  Like nothing I've ever spoken to.  But it's clear you've got something important to talk about, and I'm up for a discussion."

The 'nothing bad' part is good news, but there's a lot Shard doesn't quite like that doesn't edge across the good/bad line.

Haarmon tried really hard to hide the depth of his relief and happiness when Shard held the baby out, but he wasn't really so great at circumspection, and his face was always a bit unguarded. So he wasn't quite aware he was grinning and smiling as he settled her into the crook of his arm and he started swaying back and forth slightly at the hips, as one does when one has a baby.

Pain? No pain? Do I feel like I'm in pain? He was a little worried now. Other than his indecision about the Driod, he felt pretty tip top. What you see? Like, a tumour or something maybe?

That would be all he needed.

"Uh," he started, which he thought was pretty good, "So You-Why has some... irregularities. They weren't there last time I did the ole pop and peep on him, so it's something that went on since then. Whatever it is, it's physical and it can't be reversed. Not even with a memory wipe. It doesn't look like sabotage or anything, but it's a big Galaxy out there, and more in heaven and earth and all that."

A pause.

"So the question is: do we leave him turned off, like, permanently? Or do we go ahead with him making all the weird tweeting and whatever?"

The infant lies very still, staring at Haarmon.



The tech looks from Rhijans to Juragga, and back again.  "You're treating me like the villain here, when really I'm just trying to earn a living, like everybody else in the Galaxy.  I found a job that I'm good at, and an employer that's prepared to pay me well for doing it.  All I do is keep my head down and work hard so I can keep my job.  Is that criminal behaviour?"

Rhijans gave a tight-lipped humorless grin.  "Right now, all you are is a potential liability.  Someone else he gets to judge whether you're a victim of bad judgment or a villain.  Tell them your sob story.  I'm just making sure you don't cause trouble until they're ready to  take you off my hands."

Realization of You-Why's condition comes crashing down on Shard like an avalanche of knife-edged rocks.  She closes her eyes, this time without grinding her teeth.  "Void."  The eyes pop open again.  "He's getting old, maybe.  That's all."

More consideration goes to the baby as her mind whirls.  ~~ Child, I think it might be best if you don't tell all of us what each other is thinking.  People have a belief in the privacy of their own thoughts, and I think that should be respected amongst friends. ~~

A heavy sigh hunches her shoulders, then.  "It can't be fixed, right?"  No surgery for You-Why.  "Then...I think we should let him be, shouldn't we?  Awake, I mean.  And just keep an eye on him, when he's around, to see he's not hurting himself." Or anyone else.

Reaching out, she lays a light hand on Haarmon's shoulder.  "Are you okay, Haarmon?"  For her, this is a heavy blow in the gut.

Juragga loomed menacingly over the tech, a sudden look of true fury flashing across his face.

"Ggggrrrrrghhh," he snarled in a low rumble.  People like you enable the Empire to function, the same Empire that enslaved my people and took my family.

Rhijans didn't speak Wookiee...but Juragga's intent was pretty clear.  "I don't think he cares much for your claim of victim status here.  If you're going to keep talking, I'd choose my next words carefully...if you make him mad, I'm not gonna stop him."