Salem pulled his persona scanner from his pocket and clicked it at the other robed newcomer that'd walked through the door. There were two of them here now.
"Some kind of monk convention going on," he mused. There was something... he closed his eyes and tried to 'see' them with his newfound sense. In a place as crowded as the bar, there was a lot more going on than there had been in his little ship with only Mar around. The bright 'souls' of the bar's patrons were fairly easy to spot, even though his view of them still felt shaky. Those two seemed to have a sort of aura emanating from them, as well. So did some of the bar's other patrons, he noticed, but in different ways. Mar, in particular... he had no 'soul,' of course, and the aura didn't seem anywhere near the same, but the way the waving tendrils of black-within-black... something... behaved around the two newcomers was interesting indeed. They seemed to avoid the auras of the newcomers altogether, but seemed to grow more frantic near the edges of the auras.
Salem shook his head. He had no idea what the hell any of that meant. On a whim, he turned his attention behind him, and out the bar's door. He delighted in how easily he was able to feel the area behind him without having to turn his head to do it. He could learn to use this sense properly yet. Maybe this sense would allow him to spot Rathien... but either he wasn't outside the door, or it didn't work through the walls of the bar. Given the what he knew of the nature of the bar and this sense, he didn't know what was possible. He thought he could almost make out three auras in the shipyard... but he couldn't be sure. Too far away, or too weak. There was no way he could pinpoint where they were, either. Not used enough to this sense to properly associate it with his other senses. The being right beside him... that was Al. The android appeared to be a brighter spot in the darkness... but his 'soul' didn't feel the same as most of the other patrons. Again, Salem would have to give himself time to figure out what any of this meant. Jeeze, me with this sense is like a toddler with a holocamera, he thought.
He opened his eyes. Al was watching him with a look of amusement.
"What?" he said defensively.
"Look on your face, dude. Like a constipated weasel," Al said with a grin.
Salem aimed to punch Al in the shoulder, but the android easily dodged and laughed.
"I wonder if that's the real Keshin," Salem said, nodding at the hunter across the bar. He watched as Keshin left the conversation with Mike. That was good. He wanted to avoid Corliss if at all possible.
"Oh, right, I almost forgot. Real Keshin's back," Al said, smiling mischievously.
Without another word, Salem made his way across the bar, smirking at Al over his shoulder. He sat down next to Keshin.
"Hey," he said, facing forward, to the shelves of various bottles behind the bartender. "Back so soon? I figured that useless rebellion would keep you out of this place for a while." He smiled and turned to Keshin, "It's good to see you, though." Something... he briefly closed his eyes... something about the aura Joanne gave off...
Al watched as Salem walked off, then shrugged and glanced around the room. Zorish and the newcomer with whom she was sitting... they were talking. Both of them seemed to be extremely interested in whatever was being talked about... and both looked like they were fairly calm, but Al had been a people-android for longer than most of the bar's patrons had been alive. He was quite good at reading people. Both of their calm demeanors were a result of training, or practice, or experience. They were tense, and might benefit from having their conversation interrupted.
Besides, he'd kind of enjoyed Zorish's company earlier. He walked over and, without waiting for an invitation, plopped down in one of the chairs near them.
"Aloha, and may the Kandrona shine and strengthen you, and all that jazz," he said to Zorish with a smile. "Name's Al, pleased to meet you," he said, holding out a hand for Garreth to shake. He turned back to Zorish, "Nice to see you loosening up a bit," he said, nodding at the Yeerk's glass. "Any luck with that sister situation of yours?"
