Nowhere To Go But Up

Run run away

"President Haltmann. It's nice to finally meet you." Magolor rose from the elevator under the floor.

"Who are you?" The man swiveled in his chair.

"You really don't remember? Your... secretary introduced me over the phone. If I remember correctly, she said I was her fiance." And I didn't care for that move at all. "My name is Magolor. I had a meeting scheduled yesterday, did you forget?"

"Ah, yes, that you did." President Haltmann laid his hands on the desk in front of him. "So. What is this about?"

I don't want to waste time here. "The name 'Project Restoration'. Does it ring any bells?"

"It sounds vaguely familiar. Perhaps you could jog my memory a bit?"

Magolor drew the file out of his cloak, with all the pictures of him having been removed back at the Lor. "This is a record of everything you saw at the restoration facility on your two visits. Your secretary gave it to me."

Haltmann scanned the file and then looked up at Magolor, suspicion plain on his face. "What interests you about this project?"

"So you remember?"

"Well enough, I believe. Although, the appearance of the subject R2-M is rather hazy."

A small smile crossed Magolor's face. "I have an acquaintance who is intrinsically linked to the Restoration Facility. I'd like to ask you a few things regarding the project, if you don't mind."

"Very well. What would you like to know?"

"Is there anything that you noticed during your visits that wasn't noted in the report? And I do mean anything. Any extra information at all will do."

Haltmann read over the file again and then said something Magolor scarcely expected to hear. "There was one thing..."

Magolor's tone grew a little more excited. "What was it?"

"The Lor Starcutter. R2-M's caretaker said something about the Lor Starcutter, something about the soul and how they planned to... suppress it..."

"That's possible?"

"Yes... yes. It is. Since the Lor was asleep for so long, they projected that the mind in its program would remain asleep for several hours after the system woke up. She would have been fully functional during that time, but remember none of what happened during it. The caretaker planned to use some external method to artificially extend that period of time, so he could give R2-M enough time to get used to operating her. The Lor Starcutter is a rather fickle being, and may not respond well to a captain that doesn't treat her with respect."

Magolor tilted his head back slightly. "I believe they might actually need to hear about that. For the second question, do you know if there are any survivors?"

Haltmann's brow furrowed. "Survivors? Did something happen to the facility?"

"I imagine you wouldn't know then. The facility and the evacuation vessel the researchers were planning to escape on blew up. The only survivors were my acquaintance, and someone who I suspect to be the bomber themself."

"When did this happen?"

"Approximately a year and a half after your second visit."

"That can't be right. I heard about the evacuation vessel exploding, but when I went back to examine the wreckage, the facility was mostly intact."

What? The facility still exists? I need to find out where it is! "Interesting. One final question, if I may?"

"Go right ahead."