Home, Sweet Home

Written by Sailor Berchest

Suri looked over to top of her fashionable purple sunglasses at the decrepit building in front of her. The building was old, run down, and seemed to have strange dark colored plants spilling from every first floor window. "No."

She gave it another look, taking in the crumbling structure and the darkened windows. She couldn't see any signs of power or life in the building. "Absolutely not." Suri shook her head vehemently to emphasize her point. "You've got to be kidding if you think I'd even consider...!"

'Hey, Suri!' Seiki protested. 'You know we have to keep a low profile. And this is perfect. The other senshi will be drawn to this place. Trust me!'

"Drawn?! Will I be working with a bunch of hobos?!" Suri pushed her glasses up her nose. It was too dark for them, really, but they let her pretend that the place wasn't too bad. She started to pick her way through the discarded bottles and boxes, making her way towards what she assumed was the front door. "Does it even have plumbing? I make a lot of money. I could afford to live almost anywhere on Coruscant that I wanted. And I do not want to live here!"

Seiki sighed. 'You're so insufferable! You will live here, darn it, because other senshi do! Or will! Or something!'

Disgusted, Suri pushed aside a curtain of vines, being careful to avoid the thorns. She stomped her ridiculously high-heeled shoes angrily until she felt calmer. It didn't take long; the building was too intriguing on the inside. There was a large room that she could only assume had been a grand lobby at one point. Two statues standing taller than she lorded over the room. Suri couldn't tell if they represented two views of a single being, or two separate ones. One was missing most of its upper half, ending in a jagged line. Both were, upon closer inspection, labeled 'Neila'.

"I'm really weirded out," Suri admitted, staring at the place. There was scant lighting, casting all of the strange plants in shifting shadows. "Can you... like, glow brighter or something?"

Seiki looked offended.

"I guess that's a no. What is this place?" Suri asked, walking to the back of the room. It seemed to have a fountain or similar construct. However, everything was so overgrown with vague demonic looking plants that she wasn't sure.

'An old embassy,' Seiki responded. 'I think.' She looked around at the decrepit building. 'Really old. Really, really old.'

As they moved though the building, it was fairly obvious that someone lived - or had lived - there recently. The hallway had two... Suri could only describe them as 'nests' - bundles of dirty rags 'decorated' with empty bottles and bodily fluids.

"I'm not living with hobos." Suri picked her way around the rubbish in her ridiculously high-heeled shoes. "Uhg."

She pushed open a door and found a huge ballroom-type area. It was dirty and full of rubbish, but she could still see elaborate carvings on the walls that seemed to depict scenes from a planet she'd never seen before. She stepped in, and even through the smell of unclean bodies and garbage, she could detect a slight woody scent.

Suri stepped back out into the hall and towards the back of the building. There were more rooms, but the doors were rusted closed or too intertwined with vines for her to navigate without assistance, so she went back into the main lobby. Looking towards the left, she noticed what must have been a grand staircase at one point. It curled upwards and she could imagine grand ladies parading down it in elegant gowns. "So, do you want to head up?"

'I'm not sure... it looks a little scary...' Seiki floated up the staircase a few feet. 'But if you want to...'

The dancer was already moving, picking her way through the plant life. It was exciting in a way, adventuring around the new place. It didn't appear that whoever had been living there had ventured to the second floor. She wasn't surprised; it was a little treacherous going. Suri decided she'd need to use her small blaster to get back down the stairs.

"Oh." The upstairs was much cleaner, covered with only a layer of dirt and grime instead of creature waste. There were remains of furniture and decorations. A large, framed painting was in the foyer. It was crumbling and decayed, but Suri could still make out the word 'Neila' on the frame and the outline of a face on the painting itself. "Neila, Neila," she muttered to herself.

She walked past a closed door to the other end of the balcony. There was a recessed area that held a several piles of cloth, wood, and what seemed to be bone. Suri supposed they used to be couches of some kind. There was a table in the middle that appeared to be intact. She turned back and looked over the balcony. There seemed to be a recessed door that would cordon off the area.

Turning back, she examined the three doors. Each of them had a number on the door - 1, 2, and 3 - and a squiggle. Suri pushed open the door marked '3', and was presently surprised. The room seemed to have been sealed tight, and had only a layer of dust. The furniture had fallen apart, except for a pair of tables similar to the one out in the foyer.

"I think I'm going to have to clear this place out... those tables are really cute! I hope I can find more stuff to match them." Suri walked around the room. It seemed to be of a decent size, with enough room for a large bed, a desk, and possibly a table. Suri grinned. "I get to go shopping for new furniture!"

'You should shop for a cleaning service first... although we can't let anyone else know that we live here.'

Suri narrowed her eyes. "You've got to be kidding."

'Sorry.' Seiki positioned herself on the windowsill. 'It'll be different when the other senshi come.'

Suri reached around the blue ghostie and pulled the window shade up. It was a neat effect; through the transparent girl, the entire city seemed to move. The embassy was on a lower level, but there was still a steady stream of air traffic visible out the window.

"So, senshi. How many are there?"

'No one really knows,' Seiki admitted. 'See, there are lots of people who have the potential to be senshi. But if they never awaken or if they awaken to the Dark Side, then... well, then they aren't senshi. So, you could count how many people who could become senshi or how many have awoken... but you can't really count how many senshi there are.'

Suri bit her lip and stared at the wall. She decided that she needed to clean the water stains off and made a mental note to buy some cleaning supplies. "So... how many have awoken? Let's walk."

'So far?' Seiki counted to herself. 'Three, counting you.'

Suri frowned as she walked out the door and began investigating the remaining two doors attached to the area. "Wait, you said the other senshi were here and that's why I have to live here." Each door lead to a similar room.

The blue ghostie shrugged. 'They will be here. That's kind of the same thing. See, it's dangerous to have all the senshi live together. We learned that a long time ago. But it's equally dangerous not to have a central 'headquarters'. That's what I think the Embassy is. Not somewhere that everyone lives, but a place everyone can come.'

"Oh." Suri thought about that as she approached the last door on the hallway. She tugged at the handle, trying to open it. "So... I guess this place needs a little protection. We need to know who is coming and going. And... I think I can do that. But this place really needs to be cleaned up before we can install anything." Suri looked around, giving up on the door. "Actually, I think I should install something. This place is a little creepy... and if the hobos come back...!"

Seiki snickered. 'Are you afraid of hobos?'

"No... no, they're just dirty!"

Waggling her finger, Seiki chastised the other girl. 'This coming from someone who takes her clothes off for a living?'

Suri responded by sticking her tongue out.

Hanging upside down from a banister was not the best thinking position for most people. It wasn't even Suri Rose's preferred position, but she took what she could get some days.

The large lobby area was perfect for defending. One or two cameras could cover the whole area. Of course, that was without the threatening plants. As it was, it just gave a partial covering.

The dancer hummed to herself around the tool in her mouth as she carefully removed a faceplate from the wall. It was the same weather worn gray as the rest of the wall-the underneath was what made it special. Her hands moved deftly inside the little camera - a D-Cam, high end - to draw out wires that would allow it to connect to the rest of the network. She pressed the wires unobtrusively into the molding after connecting them. The camera whirred softly, a pleasant sound. Suri thumped it gently and it quieted down.

Suri reached up and grabbed the banister she'd hung herself from with her hands. Then, with her dancer's dexterity, she flipped herself over, landing in a crouch on the floor. Seiki clapped silently behind her. 'You're going to get yourself very hurt one of these days.'

"Nah," Suri replied. "I'm fine." The senshi brushed dirt off her hand and eyed the room. "Ok. I have the D-Cams set up so that they cover the foyer, the stairway, mine and the two other rooms, the kitchen, and the alley outside. I have some extras just in case I missed anywhere. Or if we get more of us or anything. I'm gonna go play with the computer, now." She skirted the edge of a plant that she imagined was reaching for her leg.

Suri suited action to words, taking the stairs two at a time. The tools were tossed carelessly on her new bed as she turned to the computer occupying most of the room. "Good morning, sweetheart," Suri said. She smiled, watching the wall of lights and screens flicker to life. It gave the room a tint, casting the greens and oranges of her decorations in blue shadows. She'd taken a long time choosing furniture, and was only partially pleased. The room still needed a paint job.

The computer hummed to life - the electronic version of a yawn. "But it is afternoon, Suri," the computer said, its metallic tones reminding Suri that she had to implement the voice algorithms.

"Well, yes, but you just woke up. It's kind of a joke."

"I am a computer. I cannot joke." The monitors blinked on, showing visuals of the rooms and foyers.

"I'll have to change that." Suri studied them, making sure the coverage was what she expected. "Looks good. Give me... oh, audio on d-cam 003."

Obediently, the requested d-cam came up on the main monitor and sound trickled in. Literally tricked, since there was a leak in the room she'd requested. "Great. Alright, shut that off. I want to try out some voice algorithms. Please give me access."

Again, the computer obeyed, this time by dropping one of the panels on the front of the system. A string of multicolored lights flashed to life eagerly and a keyboard extended. Suri grinned. She had to admit that she was a little old fashioned. The latest thing in IT was neural interfaces that allowed a programmer to translate their thoughts into lines of code, but she liked the feel of a keyboard under her elegant hands. Besides, her face was important to her, and she didn't want anything that might blemish it even slightly.

Suri stretched and then reached for the keyboard. Flying over the keyboard with her long fingers, she loaded a module that she'd created for a class when she was in college. Her degree was in Computer Science with a concentration in Computer/Sentient Personality Interaction. It was a long way of saying that she made computers have personalities that mimicked "Sentients" (living creatures, although the term could be applied to advanced AIs) enough so that they were able to communicate and be useful. Her final project had be creating an AI for the registration interface so that it was easier to use and made everything quicker. It was still being used, as far as she knew. Suri'd graduated sixth in her class, only because she'd taken up exotic dancing early in her senior year.

"Good morning," she repeated.

The computer snickered, a thin metallic sound. "You do know it's 4:09 in the afternoon?"

A smile spread over Suri's face. "Great. Now, let's get you a voice."

After more exploring, Suri had located a room that she called the Theater. It held a large, old computer. It took Suri a while to get the computer in working condition. The wires had been coated with a substance that she suspected was Glusct, a sweet, nutty flavoring that used to be included in candies... until it was discovered that the substance caused blood to be blocked from the brains of most humanoids, causing brain damage then death.

The computer was in decent working order, and was attached to a wall of screens. Most of the screens were damaged, and she suspected she'd have to get new ones. Also, despite the decent condition of the computer, she knew that there was newer and better hardware available and she was interested in getting it. Computers - and the programs that made them run - were fascinating to her.

The Theater (she had never been good with naming things) was going to be the basis for the entire computing system. Suri had everything wired into the Theater. It was also wired into her room as a precaution. "Good morning, Neila," Suri whispered as she walked in with an arm full of electronics.

"Hello, Suri," the computer responded just as softly, its voice sounding almost female with a melodic sing-song quality. "Why are we speaking quietly?"

Suri's face lit up in a grin. "Just testing." She stretched. "So, who am I, Nelia?" After a few moments, the computer responded. "Suri Rose. Sailor Berchest, senshi of Water and Crystals."

"Who am I, computer?"

"Suri Berchest. Resident of room 3."

The girl frowned. "Suri Rose, not Suri Berchest. Please update your records."

"My apologies, Suri Rose." The computer sounded contrite.

'Sounds like you've done well,' Seiki commented. 'It responds to you as a senshi when you refer to it as Neila and not when you call it computer?'

Suri had gotten used to Seiki's sudden appearances and didn't even jump. "No. She only recognizes someone as a senshi if their voice is programmed into her system already and they refer to her as Neila. Otherwise, they're just a normal person. See... if anyone ever finds this place and finds her, they won't be able to get in to find our info."

'Interesting,' Seiki said. She floated through one of the consoles.

"Hey, careful. Don't short out anything." Suri dumped the load of electronics she had onto the table. "You still don't know how many senshi there are?"

'No. There are at least three now... you, Hoth, Naboo... I don't know of any others. There's not a good network between senshi right now.' Seiki shrugged. 'I'm sorry.'

The dancer held up one of the ear pieces and a thin card that she'd dumped on the table. The card was about an inch wide and two inches long and of a clear plastic. The earpeice was also clear. "I want to change that. These are some of the latest comm units. The cards--" She held one up. "--are small display units. You can use them to retrieve and display information from the central computer-Neila. Now, they're touch sensitive and also voice activated. The earpieces--" She held one up in her other hand. "--can be used to receive audio transmissions. The cards don't have any kind of speaker."

The programmer turned dancer held the two together. "The earpieces attach to the edge of the card. They're only activated whenever a senshi presses on the card. They read DNA and load the information pertinent to that senshi. Now, the senshi has to be alive, so it won't turn on unless it's pressed on by a senshi and warms up."

'What if we have a cold blooded senshi?'

Suri shrugged. "I am a cold-blooded senshi! Each card can be calibrated to a particular senshi's resting body temperature. They default to a normal human's temperature." She looked unconcerned. "You said there weren't many senshi. So how many cold-blooded ones can there be?" She twisted the card around in her hand.

'Too many,' Seiki responded with a bit of disdain. 'How do they work?'

The dancer held up the card an tapped it firmly in the center. It sprung to life, showing the faint outline of an N. It loaded into a split screen. One side held what appeared to be the titles of comm messages and the other side held a series of icons. "See, the icons are different things. This one connects you to the HoloNet, this one to Neila. Here's one for messages. Here's PICTURES!"

Seiki wrinkled her nose. 'Suri, I'm not sure everyone wants to set pictures of your... ah, assets.'

The dancer giggled. "This is mine. They each have a place for senshi's own pictures." She turned the card off with a tap.

'Which begs the question... why do you... you know what?' The blue ghostie shook her head. 'I don't even want to know.'

"I guess you could put other pictures in there... did I mention that it has a minicamera and a place to clip in a video camera?" Suri smiled. "Now we just have to meet more senshi so I can give them theirs!" A frown fell over her face. "Do you think they will like them?"

Seiki smiled, patting through the girl's shoulder in a move that was supposed to be comforting. 'I'm sure they will.'

Suri looked slightly reassured. "This place is still creepy, you know."

'Well, it's better than nothing.'

"Hah!" Suri wrinkled her nose. "I could live anywhere..."

The blue ghostie swatted at her charge. 'Sure, but there will be more senshi here. I promise!'

Suri smiled at her senshi guardian and went back to playing with her electronics.

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