Erith - Feeling Lost 2

The urge to go to Quesh mounted inside the Cipher's mind, a drive that was starting to eat at her thoughts with unreasonable urgency. She closed one hand into a fist, pulling the tangled sheets off and sitting up.

Quesh. The scent produced by Darth N'Zzod had awoken the feeling more deeply, the acrid bog wet and hot and tugging at memories that didn't seem to exist. Something had happened on Quesh, something she couldn't remember under commands and protocols and controls and blocks. Something that instilled a drive to investigate the planet and find the white-washed walls she vaguely recalled from her dreams. The echo of footfalls made her roll over and off the bed she'd found her way towards after her adventures in drinking, the motion making the Cipher put a hand to her forehead. A slight headache but better than she'd expected for her first exposure to hard liquor. Humans ended up with blistering headaches (observations had led to that conclusion at least) so perhaps there was something to be said for a higher metabolism.

Maybe if she drank enough the desire to leave the Estate while she awaited orders would fade. Maybe if she drank more she could forget the sight of Ohkirr bleeding. Maybe she could forget the conflicting feelings of why. Two voices snapped commands in her thoughts, the Agent stilling and eyes losing their focus for a brief moment.

Warn; take out his best. Threats must be removed with alacrity. Targets-... She blinked, regaining the focus as whatever had passed through her mind was suppressed. Somehow in addition to Sinclair Ohkirr had become a threat, crystallized with that subconscious command. Ker slowly stood up, walking silently over to the mirror in her quarters and putting a hand on the wall beside it.

A warning to them both? It felt like something in her wanted them to stay away now, now that there was a dangerous crack. She still remembered the defiance and utter defeat that waking up from the command had left her with, how locking her knees had done nothing to prevent one order from making her rise. She couldn't remember what exactly had gone on while she'd been under control of the word but she could clearly remember the order to wake up. Everything else was a half-heard blur. She just knew she was acting under direction now, doing and thinking in ways she never had before - was that a result of meddling or was it because she was aware for the first time?

She started to move away when a voice whispered in her ear from a comms unit she had forgotten to remove or shut off. At the voice - unfamiliar and yet something was familiar about it - the Agent froze.

"Somnulant." There was a short pause. "Report compromise levels." The voice spoke with authority and confidence, and a hint of anger.

"Command phrase discovered. Alternate commands implanted in Cipher Forty-two and being acted upon. Erosion of beliefs in progress. Emotionally compromised. Secondary defense and recovery commands are being acted upon to rectify." The Agent stood rigidly, red eyes glazed, hands pulled behind her back and taking a step away from the wall.

"Program effectiveness?" Calm, cool now.

"Sufficient. If further erosion occurs levels of program will begin to be compromised as well."

"Program, recommendation report." Renewed heat.

"Recommendations as follows: reinforcement of Symphonis commands. Reprogramming. Removal of secondary authorized user, removal of secondary user's commands. Additional commands required: avoidance of Ascendancy and Chiss. Termination of the following threats to stability of Agent: Chiss, Sinclair; Chiss, Ohkirr. Termination of Chiss Ohkirr attempted, recommend second attempt."

"Reinstate defense protocols. Return for treatment. Surrender to Quesh facility for transport to primary location. Shutdown at Quesh for pick-up." Determination, command.

"Affirmed. Quesh priority increased. Once facility has been reached Agent will shut down for recovery."

"Wake up." Finality.

Ker blinked twice, distractedly pulling the comms unit off her ear. Wake up echoed as if she'd just heard it again, eyes narrowing as she looked at the device now in her hand. It felt like she was missing something again, eyes swiveling around the room as she wondered when she'd moved away from the wall.

Why she'd moved.

Staring down at her hand she tried to dial back into the unit, heading over to one of her desks and hooking the unit up; fingers moved over the keyboard until she lost focus, finding herself staring at a blank screen. The cursor moved and she tried to remember why she'd sat down in the first place; a shift command pulled up the last thing she'd typed at the terminal and Ker wondered why she felt she'd needed to blank the comm unit's history. It was standard procedure, of course, but she didn't remember taking a call she needed to follow erasure procedures for.

Wake up. Something had happened just now, Ker leaving her chair to stare at the mirror again taking in the paler skin, the disheveled hair, the nearly civilian look. Putting a hand against the cool glass she stared, wondering what she was looking for. Some sign? Some indication? She wanted answers and wondered where she could realistically get them from.

Picking up the nearest cloth she wiped her hand print from the glass, erasing every trace of the touch. It felt like she was erasing herself and wondered if that was the point and the only recourse.

"I promise, you'll be free." If she were a betting woman she'd lay odds against that ever happening. She was waiting here still instead of taking the open invitation to leave. What kept her feet on the grounds of Korriban but loyalty? Loyalty to the Sith, loyalty to the Empire... but Sinclair had been right, hadn't he?

Ohkirr's words hung in her thoughts again but something shifted at their repetition. Defensive protocols-... She stood in silence until a minute had passed and the feeling of something forgotten once again ate at her mind.