"Let me do the talking in there." Bo says as they near the bar.
"Why is that?" Din asks.
"Because I wanna get the information fast and get to the fleet." She answers.
"So do we. What's your point?" He replies.
"You kicking droids is really not helpful." She tells him.
"I figured out which one was malfunctioning, didn't I?" He says.
"Din, you know what she means." Cordelia scolds, pinching his neck.
"You did it your way, now let me do it mine, okay?" Bo asks as they enter the alley. "This is the address." She adds. They stop for a moment so Din can set his wife on the ground. He slips his hand into hers as they approach the door, wanting to keep her close. They enter and everything inside quiets, from the music to droids talking to each other.
"I don't think they get many of our kind here." Din says as they walk down the steps and towards the bar.
"Can I help you?" The bartender droid asks.
"That depends. Is this The Resistor?" Bo asks him.
"This is." He answers. Din tosses the spark bad onto the bar.
"That spark pad was found on a rogue battle droid." She says.
"We give out lots of spark pads." He replies, setting a container of them on the bar. "What are you getting at?"
"There has been a string of malfunctions that all point to this oil can." Bo answers.
"You can check my registry. We are in full compliance with Planetary Hierarchial-" He says, interrupted by Din pointing a sparking tool at him.
"If you don't start answering questions, I'll yank your memory circuit and dissect it back at the lab." He threats.
"Are you kidding me?!" Cordelia exclaims, pushing his hand down.
"Nobody leaves." He orders, ignoring her as a droid heads for the exit.
"A word?" Bo asks, looking at him.
"Stay where I can see you." He tells the bartender.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Cordelia asks, smacking his arm.
"We're wasting time. You can't reason with droids." He answers. She sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose.
"Their behavior is programmed. All they do is reason." Bo says.
"They're also programmed not to harm organics. How's that going?" He argues. Cordelia groans quietly, closing her eyes and massaging her temples.
"Look, you are not helping. Just because the malfunctioning droids happen to visit here doesn't mean that this one is in on it." She sighs.
"I want to help." The bartender tells them.
"You want me to pull your hearing sensors too?" Din threatens, facing the droid.
"That's enough! Go wait by the door if you can't behave yourself. I know you have a history with droids, but not all of them are bad. Until you realize this, keep your mouth shut." Cordelia snaps, glaring at him. He looks at Bo for support, but she points over her shoulder at the door.
"We are worried that if these horrible incidents continue, we will be..." The bartender says once Din has leaned against the wall by the stairs.
"You'll be what?" He calls. Cordelia turns and sends him a glare so terrifying he lowers his head and stares at his boots.
"There are concerns among my customers that we will be replaced." He explains.
"By what?" Bo asks.
"Humans. Most of us have been refurbished and reprogrammed. Some droids on Plazir date back to the Separatists. The New Republic would send them to scrap. But here on Plazir, they are given a second chance." He answers. "That's why we need your help. We don't want to be replaced. We still have a lot to contribute. Human life is so short. They don't ask that much of us. Organics created us. It's the least we can do."
The droids in the bar begin chattering in agreement, filling the bar with various beeps and chirps. Cordelia smiles as she looks at them, wishing L3 were still here to see how kind these droids have been treated on Plazir.
"Would you like a drink?" The bartender asks her as he leads them to his office.
"Do you have options, or is it an I get what I get situation?" She asks as they sit.
"I have a few you can choose from. I don't get many humans here, but I keep a small selection for those who come in." He answers.
"That would be great, thank you. I'm not picky, surprise me." She tells him, smiling at him. He reaches into a drawer in his desk, bringing out a bottle and glass. He pours the drink and slides it across the table.
"Do you have a record of what each of the suspects ordered?" Bo asks as Cordelia sips her drink, giving the droid a thumbs up.
"That is not how it works here. There is no selection of beverages as with organics." He replies, gesturing to the drawer he keeps that selection. "Here, droids are served Nepenthé."
"What's Nepenthé?" Din asks.
"It is a viscous lubricant that protects against mechanical wear while delivering program refreshing sub-particles." He answers.
"So Nepenthé reprograms the droids that drink here?" He clarifies.
"It patches the programming as the commands of the mainframe change." The droid explains. He opens and box and skims through the chips inside. He pulls one out and scans it. "It seems the malfunctioning droids all imbibed from the same batch of Nepenthé." The three stand, knowing they need to examine the droids who have malfunctioned.
"Thank you so much for your help. Once we've fixed the malfunctions, you'll be the first one to know." Cordelia tells him.
"Thank you." He tells her, watching them leave.
***
"These are the remains of the latest malfunctioning droid." The lab tech says as the drawer opens. The lab droid approaches and takes a sample. The tech takes it and brings it to her station.
"We're looking for programming sub-particles." Bo tells her.
"Yes. Let me isolate them." She replies, placing the sample in a machine before sitting to flip a switch and press a button on the console to turn it on. "All right, let's see if they give us a reading." The console beeps and she examines the results. "The particles are definitely present."
"What are the chances that they're still active?" Din asks. The lab droid beeps and they turn to see it pointing its lasers at them. The tech and Bo dive behind her desk and Din grabs Cordelia, keeping his body between hers and the droid as they find cover behind another table.
Bo and Cordelia fire at the droid, unable to do much with the lasers swinging around wildly. Once the droid has its back to him, Din emerges and ignites the Darksaber, slicing the droid in half. He stares down at it as the others stand.
"They're still active." Bo says. They return to the console and inspect the sub-particles more closely.
"These are the sub-particles." She tells them, zooming in closer. "Curious..."
"What is it?" Cordelia asks.
"They're actually nano-droids." She says.
"Shit." Cordelia curses quietly, guessing that means these malfunctions have been intentional.
"How did nano-droids get into the Nepenthé?" Bo asks. The tech zooms in closer and Din points to the nano-droid.
"What's that?" He asks.
"The striations? Just an aberration in the metal. Probably malleability limitations at this scale." She answers.
"No. It's writing." Bo says, looking closer.
"Rotate the perspective." Din tells her. She does, pressing a button to highlight the writing.
"It's a chain code." She announces.
"If it has a chain code, then we should be able to determine its point of origin." Bo says.
"In theory. Let me see what I can find out." She replies. "Yes, here we are. They were originally manufactured by the Techno Union. Been in cold storage for ages. The chain title says it didn't arrive on Plazir through Droid Acquisitions. How strange..."
"How did it arrive?" Din asks.
"They were requisitioned by the Security Office." She answers.
"Is that unusual?" Bo asks.
"It's illegal." She tells her. "There's no record of this transaction on the government registry. These droids were ordered by an individual."
"Is there a name?" Cordelia asks.
"Our head of security. Commissioner Helgait." She answers.
Din grabs Cordelia's hand, leading her out of the room as she calls out a thanks to the tech for all her help.
Sorry the chapters are coming out late, I was busy all day and then we went to dinner last night and I immediately fell asleep when we got back lol