Galaxy's Edge Space Bar (archive)

[Terenia]

<Quiet, human,> Ardiss says, still trying to figure out what will be likely to keep her alive longest. She is careful to keep her thoughts and feelings hidden from Tara, even while reading hers. She glances back down a the pool nervously, where the two remaining Yeerks now seem so insignificant. Ardiss has Tara take a deep breath. She can only see one way out of this, and it will require some acting. And Tara not getting anything. She holds Tara's hands up in surrender, facing Corliss, deciding that he will be the most likely to give her a chance.

"Okay. No one attack or anything," Ardiss says slowly, forcing a nervous tremble to her voice, "Myitt is still in the pool. I didn't have a choice, I had to infest Tara. I promise I will leave her in a minute. But we need to talk, and I need to be here for it. This body is at least a bit more sober," she allows herself a slight smirk, but it feels somewhat strange on this new face.

[Myitt]

Tara's blood turns to ice.  This vile thing was in her head!  Okay, she'd volunteered for it, earlier...but it just waltzed right in, anyway!  The stupid, murderous, slimy creep.  Thoughts like these race through her mind, but she ends up saying, <**** you, ****, just say your piece and get the hell out of my head.  And stop rooting around in here, I can tell you're doing it!  You're only creating more problems for yourself.>

Corliss stares at Tara/Ardiss, looking down at the pool in disbelief.  "Looks like you got your wish, Tara, are you happy?" he says blandly.  He, too, is apprehensive at the idea that now this dangerous Imperial loyalist knows everything.  Everything.  "Well Ardiss, you have a right to bargain for your continued existence.  What do you have to say for yourself?"

[Terenia]

Ardiss shifts her gaze from Corliss to Kara, who is staring at her in paralyzed terror. When she speaks again, her voice is soft, controlled, "I just wanted to say that while I may have a conflicted past that is at...odds...with your goals, you can't blame me entirely," she sighs heavily, like someone defeated, and leans back on the bar, "I didn't even know that you rebels existed, let alone that there was another alternative. It was all I could do to give up my former job. Cut me some slack."

She pauses, pursing her lips in consideration, "Don't kill me," she says, "Get me a host. Preferably her," she nods towards Kara, "and don't kill me. That's my case."

<You certainly are a volatile creature,> Ardiss surmises, sounding vaguely amused, <and I will be out of your head soon enough. What's that Earth phrase? Oh yes, don't get your panties in a twist.>

[Shenmue654]

Mar watches the conversation as carefully as he can, trying to take in all the information that his new mind can hold. Which isn't exactly easy, because his mind is currently drunk. Damn...if only I could return to an avatar state. But if I try that, Crayak will know exactly where I am and may be able to access me. This is His world, His game. Not mine. And I'm putting myself in danger for a bunch of mangy rebels and a little girl. What sort of fool have you become now, infernal Prince?

Mar glances at Breekan and shoots him a look that suggests, "Putting her in your body in any situation would be a really bad idea."

He then attempts to lift himself up, ultimately failing. He stumbles back down onto the ground but places himself near Kara. "......why do you want...just a slight wisp of a girl? Wouldn't you prefer...a fresh host...to torment? A new game? I suppose that the rebels will place you with...a person for you to call "friend," however, and not slave."

[Myitt]

Corliss tries very hard to control his anger at this Yeerk for taking over his friend, and certainly his sibling's closest friend, against her will.  "So you ran away.  We know that bloody part already," says Corliss in a low, equally controlled tone.  "I'm afraid that your only option right now is to accept your exile in the form of indefinite imprisonment, if you want to live.  There's no way we can trust you, not right away.  I don't have the authority to make such decisions, though I can try to get clearance to let you stay with us.  I don't want to kill you any more than you want to die."  He pauses.  "But make no mistake, I will kill you, if you attempt to use what you now know to harm our organization, or anyone here."  He looks around.  "Jagill, Temrash would probably appreciate the opportunity to learn what's been going on, if you think he's ready.  An' Myitt, well...I reckon she'd probably have no qualms about killing you, if you weren't hiding inside of our mate, 'ere."

<Yeah?  Out of my head, and where will you go?  I've got news for you, buddy, you aren't going back into that kid you've screwed up,> Tara snaps.  <At first I thought maybe it was only fair, but you know what?  The only unfair thing is letting you ruin her even more.  I can see your mind.  You're very good at hiding it, but your stupid, snivelling emotions...I can sense those.  You're afraid, and you're a coward.>

[Terenia]

Ardiss pounds Tara's good hand, balled into a fist, on the bar, "All I wanted was a damned drink!" she cries, her temper slipping ever so slightly, "Instead I'm being put on trial? Good God, the girl cannot function, look at her!" she gestures at Kara, who has begun to shake again, and then shoots Mar a dirty look.

"And no, I do not want a 'fresh host' to torment. You have no idea what kind of a Yeerk I am. You think she is this way because I spend day in and day out tormenting her? You think I ever had the time or the energy or the desire to even speak to her more than necessary?" she takes a few deep breaths, trying to force herself to calm down. When she speaks again it is in more controlled tones, "I spent nearly every day of the past ten years torturing people. Do you honestly think that I wanted to continue that when I was off the job?"

[Alic]

<You filthy worm!> Alic's eyes narrowed as she arched her tail. Her nostrils were flaring in anger and she took a step towards the yeerk. <You'll be lucky to make it back to your gray water, let alone any host at all.>
She froze in her steps. She was pissed off and wanted Ardiss dead for taking over her friend. But Alic would have to wait until it left Tara.
<You locked that poor girl up inside of her own head. Never to show her own emotions, turn her head, or speak her mind. And you think that's not tormenting?>

[Shenmue654]

Mar stares at her calmly, and begins speaking. "I can tell you plainly that no living being behaves that way unless you have ignored them completely. Locked them in a dark, black cage of their own and left them to rot. I have wandered the halls of the lowest levels of my complexes and seen the people whose greatest fear it is to be isolated. You may have brought her to the stars and left her unharmed, but by cutting her off from reality you have tortured her all the same. I would know. I love that method."

A twisted grin briefly forms on Mar's face, his eyes glinting. He then shakes it off and rests again, choosing not to engage in the discourse any further.

[Kit Cloudkicker]

Shalner clenches her teeth, and glares across the bar at Mar, then Ardiss/Tara. She remains unmoving, her eyes pulsing with the same dull, red light from earlier.




Keirdan turns away from the mini-pool, and stares, a confused expression on his face. In a dull voice, he says to himself "Myitt's still in the pool."

[Myitt]

<Ow, goddamnit, my whole body's messed up, will you stop bruising it some more?> Tara scowls.

"She seems to have been tortured enough, just by the very nature of her existence," says Corliss, crossing his arms.  "Taking away her freedom, and forcing her to experience the intricacies of your morally ambiguous career.  Actually, I'm quite surprised you've never heard of civil unrest.  Some of my friends have died under the knife of Imperial interrogation.  Maybe we're just good at not being caught."  He sighs, supressing melancholy and getting back to business.  "It's your choice, Ardiss.  We can't let you back into this human girl, clearly she won't let you and I'm not forcing her.  One way or another you're leaving Tara and accepting whatever fate you choose.  Certainly either would be better than what the Empire would do to you."

[Terenia]

A brief flash of frustration flashes over Tara's face, "She never asked for her freedom," she hisses, "She was hardly ever even present. Ten years and she has said maybe five things to me. She was broken when I received her. Don't blame me for the way she is. I only did what is in my nature to do."

Ardiss sighs, slumping Tara's shoulders, "Fine. I'm going. Back to the blasted pool," she shoots a scowl at each of them, settling on the Andalite, "But if you kill me, don't forget that you are killing an innocent. I am, evidently, at your mercy. Anything you do to me is in cold blood. You will have to live with that."

Abruptly she turns back to the pool, unsure whether she was successful or not. Before leaning over to re-enter the pool, she pauses to address Tara.

<You'll have your beloved friend back in a moment,> she says. Before disengaging she allows a crack to slip in the mental barrier she has erected. A simple memory of hers; the self-loathing and trapped emotions she suffered working under the Empire, during and after interrogation sessions. <Just remember, Tara. This is not an issue of black and white. I am not evil. Perhaps you can relay the message more effectively than I.>

She tilts Tara's head, leaning it close to the pool and disengages. Moments later she plops back into the pool, blind and deaf once more.

[Myitt]

As soon as Ardiss leaves her head, Tara collapses, catching herself on the bar counter with her shaking left arm.  "Nhhh..." she groans, pulling herself to her feet.  "That jerk...I feel like my head's going to explode..." 

<Welcome back,> says Myitt, having calmed down quite a bit. <I guess this is really my cue, huh?>  She sense Tara's hand and swims under it. 

Tara lifts her friend out of the pool, holding Myitt's squirming body in front of her, eyes narrowed.  "It's her, right?"

Corliss nods.  "Right, Keirdan?" 

[Shenmue654]

Mar glances at Myitt's body casually and states, "It's Myitt, all right. The same feeling...I can tell that even like this."

Mar stares worriedly at Kara. He thinks that perhaps he's failed, and perhaps the only person who seemed to like him liked him because she was drunk. Blast it. This double-bodied madness universe is just too confusing...

[Terenia]

Kara has slipped to the ground during the conversation, her back leaning against the bar as she takes huge, shaking breaths. Even after Ardiss leaves, she glares at Tara in a mixture of hatred and terror.

"She's....lying..." Kara breathes out arduously, "I'm not broken."

[Kit Cloudkicker]

Keirdan squints into the pool, and examines the two remaining yeerks. "Yup. That's her. She's with her other-person now."



Shal breathes in deeply through her nose in an attempt to keep herself calm. She watches as Kara slumps to the ground, an unreadable expression on her face.