Not My Kind of Archaeology/Kithan Lost Her Marbles

The squib barges in. Literally. "Mister Tokoga, omigosh, please be here!" she squeaks out. Naturally, she's followed by a flustered orderly who no doubt tried to keep her from barging in.

Seemingly deeply engaged in a report sitting on his desk, the Senator's eyes flick toward the Squib. "It's alright." A smile crosses his face as he pacifies the bothered office functionary. "What can I do for you, Kithan?"

Carried in the squib's arms is a dark colored robe. The squib literally dashes across the room and bursts into bright babble, "There's a relic and my marbles and this person in magnacuffs and this is his robe and I can't remember the last three hours and the tattoo on his forearm is the same as the marks on the amulet that I found in the water the other week and my head hurts when I try to think.. owch, of where they .. went!" this last comes out as almost a wail. The babble is a little more frantic and incoherent than normal. She rushes up next to Tokoga as she is babbling, the robe still clutched in her arms and her head turned up to look at him with large eyes, furry brow furrowed with mingled pain and concern.

"Slow down, Kithan," the Senator frowns, unable to take in all of the Squib's loosely-connected words at the same time. "Not all of us are graced with the ability to understand such rapid speech," he says in as soothing a tone as he can manage. "Start from the begenning and go from there."

Dragging in a deep, almost exaggerated breath, Kithan flops herself down on the floor and puts her head in her hands, rubbing at her temples as she says, "I was in the starport and I heard people talking in an alley.." she continues, presuming that Tokoga doesn't interrupt her, "I snuck up towards them, cuz they were talking about 'masters', and that just sounds funny, right? And there were two guys, a mean one called Jan and another one whose robe this is who was in magnacuffs." The squib continues to take in deep breaths and her speech calms down. She closes her eyes and actually sounds like a normal individual for once. Her little brow is still furrowed but she has stopped rubbing at her temples. "There was one of those holomessage things, and he was talking to someone who sounded like he has asthma. They spoke of a relic, and a jedi apprentice that they wanted alive, but could be sacrificed for the relic if it was needed..."

The Senator frowns, seemingly visibly disturbed by the Squib's story. "Certainly a disturbing story..." he says in a slow and as calm a tone as he can manage under the circumstances. "Have you told anyone else about this?" If he wasn't directly involved in the whole affair, he'd probably find it ironic that the inquisitive Kithan had stumbled upon something that she had already been unknowingly surrounded by since she arrived on the planet.

The squib shakes her head, "No, but I'm not done!" she asserts, her eyes opening. She bounces back to her feet, "Asthma guy said that others had failed before, but that Jan would not fail! Jan said that the Jedi, the guy in the cuffs," she identifies, "Had a choice to make that could save a lot of lives. I couldn't see their faces, so I tried to, I threw some marbles at their feet and slid into them, and pulled the whole 'I'm just a silly squib, whee!' charade that everyone falls for, and I got a good touch on Jan, and this other guy who owns this robe, the Jedi, I think he was a Jedi.. he didn't want to be with Jan, but he didn't fight to get away either, and these are his robes and they were covering me when I woke up, and I remember... I remember.." she falters, her face scrunching up again as she brings a hand up to her head, "I followed them, after Jan threatened me with a blaster, I followed them and.." her breathing ramps up a bit and a curious look of pain and distress is on her face. "I can't remember. I can't remember! I think he looked at me, and I can't remember!"

Tokoga's frown deepens as Kithan's story continues. "Kithan, calm down..." he stands up and walks around his desk, putting his hand on the Squib's shoulder to try and comfort her. "I'm sure that there's someone out there who can help you remember what happened." Although the way things were looking, it would probably turn out to be something she didn't *want* to remember. "Earlier, you mentioned an amulet...what were you talking about?"

Looking up at Tokoga, the squib drags in a few deep breaths. Her reaction doesn't speak of fear, but merely distress that she can't remember what happened. She frowns a bit and sets the robe down carefully over the edge of Tokoga's chair, then reaches into her pouch and says, "I was worried that I may have lost it when I couldn't remember. But it's still here." she pulls out a gold and silver amulet, with symbols etched across the amulet itself. "It isn't /exactly/ the same, I don't think, but the symbols are really similar. I found this in a water pool at the plaza last week, it had been buried at the bottom, under some weeds." she offers the amulet towards Tokoga, "I do remember what they sound like, and I could probably smell them if I were near them. I got the cuffed fellow, I think he was a Jedi, to talk to me, so I know his voice, too."

Kithan opens her mouth and says, "And then I followed them..." she blinks her eyes once or twice, a furrow between her eyes, and then says in a small voice, "My head hurts when I think of following them." before she then collapses in a boneless little heap next to Tokoga. It would be quickly apparent, however, that the squib is just deeply asleep. And muttering about her lost marbles.

 Kithan gives you the amulet desc first: An amulet made of silver and gold plated elegantly over durasteel. It is a simple chain with the seal of the New Sith Order attached to it. The amulet fits firmly around the neck. On the Order symbol each individual amulet has a series of small lines and symbols dictate a person's rank in the order. One must be accustom or aware of the Sith's ranking and symbols to understand it. (Saved for posterity, since its never given in character.) (Scene break: time constraints).

Despite the urgency of the situation, Tokoga had no desire to make the whole experience any more stressful for the poor Squib. Having moved her to one of two comfy couches in his office, he sat back down at his desk, turning the amulet over and over in his hands curiously, examining the symbols curiously despite being completely in the dark about their nature or origins while waiting for her to regain consciousness.

A quiet muttering can be heard from the slumbering squib. Something about marbles, railroads and the price of tea in Chi'na, a lovely charming backwater town somewhere or another. Finally she fidgets herself to the edge of the couch, and rolls off of it. The sudden motion wakes her up with a short "Eek!" which ends in a 'thump' as she lands on the floor. Sitting up and rubbing at her head, Kithan says, "Where am I..?" as she looks around. Naturally it doesn't take her long to recognize where she is, given the person sitting there, and she jumps to her feet, "Mister Tokoga?"

The normally sedentary Mon Calamari twitches again from the rapid motion of the small furry creature. "Yes, you're in my office...you collapsed a little while ago." he says softly, putting down the amulet on the desk. "Would you like something to drink?" Maybe she wouldn't be quite so likely to pass out if she had something to do other than babble, he muses quietly to himself, pulling out a long, thin bottle of what looks like milk from a chilled cabinet behind him.

Nodding her head, Kithan wobbles a little bit as she regains her equilibrium. "Yes please," she implores, then apparently recovering her balance, she resumes her normal stride - bounce. She bounces over towards Tokoga's side and heaves a big sigh, "I'm sorry I fell asleep on you, Mister Tokoga, especially given that we were still in the middle of talking about what happened, and I'm sure you've still got lots of questions, and I was going to try to find Rasi, but I didn't know where he was, and I figured you're always at work, you said so yourself..." apparently Tokoga didn't get her the milk in time!

"It's quite alright," Tokoga says, pouring the milk into a small half-spherical glass and offering it to Kithan. "I have no doubt that this is a matter of far more importance than the education budget," he gestures with his head toward the monitor built into the desk in front of him. "Yes, I have questions, and I'm sure that Commander Cen willh ave some as well, but I want to make sure you're alright and aren't going to be passing out on my office floor again. It's bad for business," he offers with a kind wink.

Taking the glass from Tokoga, Kithan lifts it to her muzzle and drinks deeply from it. She lowers the glass and rubs at her whiskers with her hand as she gives Tokoga a happy smile, "Thanks. It's also bad for my reputation! I mean, c'mon, who passes out nowadays besides ladies in those old romance holos. Oh la, sir, I feel faint!" she falsettos, an interesting tone of voice coming from someone whose voice is already naturally highish pitched, one hand going to her forehead as she pantomimes a lady fainting. She of course, doesn't really faint, just tosses her head back and leans back with her words, hand to her forehead. She drops the pose and then takes a few deep breaths and says towards Tokoga, "Look Mister Tokoga, I just want to make sure you realize I'm not making this up. People," she rolls her eyes, "Think that I lie or that I exaggerate, and maybe I do sometimes! Exaggerate. I don't lie." she clarifies with a little frown, "Lying is wrong. But this isnt' an exaggeration, I /promise/."

"I believe you, Kithan...and it means a lot to me that you came here first," he says, leaning forward onto his desk, putting the remainder of the milk within easy reach for the Squib and doing his best to hide the anxiety that he has for the whole situation. "You said that all of this happened in an alley near the Starport. Do you remember exactly where?" If they were lucky--which would certainly be a first throughout this whole mess--there might be some security footage from the area that might reveal something. A certain tenseness goes out of Kithan when Tokoga indicates his belief that she is telling the truth. She moves over to one of the chairs that are undoubtedly in the office and pulls it over closer to the desk. Climbing up into the chair she sits down in it, slumping back a bit as she answers, "Yeah, I remember that part clear enough. It was between one of those little cantinas and daily rate hotels that the spacers like to use if they're only gonna be on planet for a day or so. I was usin' one of the terminals when I heard 'em talking."

The Senator doesn't bother recording Kithan's answers or writing anything down. Years of being on heated, fast-paced debate floors has honed his memory enough that he doesn't need to. If they were in that area, then they were probably just arriving from somewhere or departing or planning to depart to somewhere else. Otherwise, it seemed like an oddly public place to hold such ... sensitive conversations. "When you woke up, what did you feel like?" The Senator's mind focuses on a similar incident involving Myiari, who had barged into the Chief of State's office during a meeting while seemingly under the mental influence of some other presence, and afterwards seemed quite lethargic and sporting a rather intense headache.

The squib wrinkles her muzzle and reaches up to rub at her head, "Headachey, and ... just headachy, some wierd dreams. And everytime I try to think of where they went, it comes back..." she squints her eyes shut, as if that will help her, and grips at her head with her fingers, fingertips digging in through the thick fur of her skull, "Ungh. It's all jumbled!"

"That's alright, Kithan," Tokoga says in as low and soothing a tone as he can manage. "Don't dwell on it if it bothers you to do so," he frowns slightly. "Before you, er, dropped your marbles, did you get a good look at their faces? Good enough to recognize either one of them from a photograph?"

Dropping her hands from her head, Kithan corrects, "I didn't /drop/ them, I /threw/ them. Jan fell, which was kind of funny, but I didn't laugh..." she trails off, her expression shifting as she considers, "No, but I could probably recognize their voices, and their scents. They had cloaks on covering their faces, even the Jedi who didn't try to run away. That's his cloak though," Kithan points to wherever the cloak had wound up being put, "So I know for sure that I could recognize him. That cloak has him all in it, and it was on me." she rubs one hand over her fur, "The other guy I may need to touch to recognize... dunno."

Tokoga can't help but smile at the mental image of Kithan chucking marbles at a Sith. "I see...and the voice from the holoemitter. Could you recognize that if you heard it again?" Probably a pointless question to ask, since the likelihood that there'd be a voice recording of any of the individuals behind this.

Kithan nods her head and says, "Sounded like he had asthma!" she reaches up and clutches at her throat and tries to rasp it up, "Like this!" she wheeze-rasps, then she squints one eye shut and says, "Okay, maybe not like that. But Jan had a core accent, pretty mild, and the Jedi had a pretty thick Corellian accent. It'd be better if I could touch 'em though, cuz people can make their voices not normal, y'know, but it's harder to mess up your skin."

"Mmm," Tokoga nods. "And this..." he turns the amulet over in his hands a few times, briefly examining both sides of it. "You found this in Plaza? Did you have it on you at the time?"

"Yup. I found it a week, maybe two weeks ago." Kithan confirms, pursing her lips a moment as she then suggests, "If it was a Jedi that lives in the Temple, I could go into the temple and check out everyone's room, if he hasn't been reported missing yet? I could probably figure out who he is from his stuff, clothes and the like, y'know?" Kithan leans forward then and abruptly changes the subject, "The guy, Jan, had a tattoo like this on his arm. Not quite the same, but the same. I don't know what language it's in, do you?"

Tokoga shakes his head. "No, I'm not familiar with this type of cuneiform...maybe the Jedi Archives might be able to come up with something. Hopefully they'll also have an idea about which Jedi aren't where they should be..." he lets out a short sigh.

"He seemed nice, like he was tryin' to lead Jan away from me. Jan told him he had a choice, he could save lots of lives. I hope he isn't the Jedi that the person with asthma said could be sacrificed... then again, it still isn't good because why would they want him alive? ... I think they called him an Apprentice, does that make a difference?" says Kithan.

"If nothing else, it should certainly help narrow it down for them," Tokoga answers, pausing momentarily before continuing. "They'll probably want to talk to you themselves, I'm sure."

A casual shrug is Kithan's response to that. No skin off of her back, she loves to talk, after all. She then asks with a little frown, "What if I made it worse for him, Mister Tokoga? Should I maybe have called for someone sooner? I didn't have anyone's comlink and I was worried that if I didn't do something to try to help him run away, it would be too late, but then in the end it didn't matter, because he went with the mean guy anyway, and then there was the tram and..." her little face starts to screw up with more than concern and she reaches up to her head again, "Oh gosh, this is going to get annoying! And painful."

"There's no sense worrying about that now," Tokoga says. "You did everything that you could to try to help, and that's the most anyone can do. If you had attracted any more attention to them, the results could have been quite disastrous." He frowns again at the Squib as she reaches for her head. Poor thing.

Sighing again as she drops her hands from her head, Kithan asks, "What do you think it all means, Mister Tokoga? The relic, the Jedi Apprentice, lives saved, the wierd tattoo?"

"I'm not sure, Kithan." Tokoga frowns slightly. "There have been ... similar ... incidents to your own, where people have acted seemingly without the aid of their own conscious mind, without any later recollection, and with later fatigue, much as you describe." He doesn't dare to give the loquacious Squib any more information than that. "But I'm at a loss to explain what those behind it or their agents would be doing here in person. It's very alarming news." He leans forward toward the Squib, adopting a very uncharacteristically serious expression, a stark contrast to his normal wistful, jovial outlook. "Kithan...it's very important that you don't talk about this with anyone that isn't involved in trying to unravel all of this. This isn't something that everyone needs to know about, at least not yet. Can you do that for me?"

Kithan tips her head to the side and then nods her head, "Of course. Contrary to popular belief, Mister Tokoga, I'm not really /that/ stupid you know." she wrinkles her nose a bit, "But the misconception really helps me out, y'know?" she confides with a small toothy grin, "Which is probably why that mean guy didn't shoot me, y'know? Thought I was just being dumb and tryin' to pick pocket him... which I'd never do, because that's really wrong, but everyone thinks I try anyway? I swear, you non-squib have some funny notions..."

 Now speaking: Squibbian

"I wouldn't think that for a minute," Tokoga grins slightly, interspersing into mildly accented, but easily understandable Squibbian. "Way back when, one of my political duties consisted of dealing with the Reclamation Fleet. If there's anyone around here that can handle being a part of this whole unfortunate race, I'd have to say that it's someone resourceful, courageous, and not afraid to get their hands dirty. Someone like you." (speaking in Squibbian)

Kithan blinks her eyes and then breaks into a big grin, "You speak really well! And aw... thanks Mister Tokoga." She leans forward in her seat, reaching for the milk on the table and refilling her glass, "Those guys on the Fleet are somethin' else, huh? I've never really been much ... well, not /as/ much into salvage as they are. But I'm here now and I'll help as much as I can." (speaking Squibbian)

Tokoga nods. "Yes, they always seem extremely ... dedicated to what they do," he nods. "And happy and content to do it." Which, ultimately, was the whole point of doing it." He pauses and looks down at the robe and the amulet momentarily before continuing in Basic. "I'll make sure that this reaches the eyes of someone who knows more of such matters than myself," Tokoga pushes the amulet a little farther forward on his desk indicatively. "But, since I'm taking something that you found, its only fair that I give you something in return," he smiles warmly, looking pointedly at the collection of organic decor objects throughout the room. Maybe some bargining would be good for her. (speaking in Squibbian)

Leaning forward as she sips at her milk, Kithan considers the amulet, and then Tokoga. She then twitches her whiskers a moment and says, "It is a very sentimental value to me. I nearly drowned getting it!" as she raises her brows, nodding her head sagely, "And then I had to clean it up. It was," she shifts to shaking her head from side to side, "Quite tarnished."

 Now speaking: Basic

"Mmm, I'm sure." Tokoga grins a little more, enjoying this much more than a normal person should. "Well, surely, there must be something at my disposal that would constitute a fair bargain." The Sith are complicated. The Jedi are complicated. Politics is complicated. Squibs and their dealings simply have an elegant simplicity about them that the Senator can't help but admire.

One little hand comes up to Kithan's chin and she lightly scratches at the fur of her jaw. She sniffs slightly, whiskers twitching before she then says, "I think it only fair since I have something you want, that you make the first offer." her eyes bright as she studies the senator, "Keeping in mind the dear sentimental value of my amulet."

"Of course," Tokoga nods thoughtfully. It's been years since he last bargained with a Squib, and he's almost forgotten how much fun it could be. "Well, you seem to be fresh out of marbles if you came directly here afterwards and don't have them now...I could get you more than you'd know what to do with from Dac. There are incredibly beautiful, radiant mineral deposits there that make for some of the brightest and shiniest ones you could imagine. Every color of the visible spectrum."

Kithan gives the most mournful turn of the face possible for such a cheerful species, her ears flatten and her eyes almost well with tears, "I loved those marbles. Almost as much as I love this amulet." she wipes at under each eye with a fingertip, "And I dunno, I can think of a lot of things to do with marbles... but I suppppppose," she stretches the word out, "That getting that many marbles maaaay be a teensy bit extraneous."

"I didn't become a politician by not being able to deliver the compromises that people need," Tokoga says with a grin. "The only thing you'd need to worry about is where to store them all." The violet muzzle wrinkles a bit as the squib considers. Finally she nods her head and says, "I'll take that then, one bag of Dac marbles, of /all/ colors mind you, for my very special non-tarnished almost-drowned-to-obtain amulet of unknown-scary-markings. ... large bag." she amends.

The Senator nods at the amended bag size. "The largest I can find." Tokoga stands up from his desk slightly and extends his hand out toward the Squib. "You bargain well, Kithan," he says with a smile.

Standing up on her chair to reach, Kithan extends her hand out towards Tokoga and grips his hand in her own, little fingers holding firmly, "You too, Mister Tokoga!" once the deal is complete, she flops back down and admits, "I'm actually the worst bargainer in my whole family." with a little sigh, "Which is why I'm not in the business, y'know?"

Tokoga gives Kithan a firm handshake and an understanding nod. "I'm sure that Commander Cen will have other questions that he'd like to have you answer later, but in the meantime, would you like a ride home? I could have one of my aides take you there in a hovercar."

Perking up again in her seat, Kithan says, "Really? Koovy! That would be great, Mister Tokoga! And yeah, I'll be happy to talk to Rasi, that's Rasi right? about it. Is there anyone else that I should be telling, in case someone tries to talk to me and says that it's okay for me to tell them but it really isn't okay for me to talk to them about it?" her face sets into a puzzled little frown, "And do you want me to keep trying to remember... um. Ow. I'll keep trying anyway.."

Koovy. That was a word that he hadn't heard for quite a while. "Yes, Commander Cen...Rasi. I'm sure that the Jedi will also be interested in what you have to say, but I'm sure he'll bring whatever liasons are tasked with dealing with such things when he contacts you. I'll notify his office of this as soon as you're gone. Until then, I wouldn't talk to anyone. Don't stop living your life, obviously, just don't discuss today's events with anyone that doesn't seem like they should know."

Nodding her head, Kithan bounces off the chair, around the desk and hugs Tokoga, brushing her cheek against his shoulder, "Thank you, Mister Tokoga!"