Life is interesting in the household. Possibly even confusing to those who
live there. Most don't try to understand Darana...Darana just is. Trying
to understand her simply makes ones head hurt. Or so the sentiment was
expressed by various members of the house; present and past alike.
The same could be said of the members themselves...Do not try to
understand them, they simply are. The members form a gestalt
that becomes an entity known to the Galaxy as the household. And that
entity, also, simply is.
It was late in the day and Eric noticed the light on in Rook's office,
"Rook..." He looked up, surprised. "I've been meaning to ask you about
Sidra."
Rook waved Eric in to his office and motioned for him to continue.
"When we were training together you wanted to turn off the behavior
inhibitions. Why is that?" Eric paused remembering, " The more I
think about it, the more I wonder..."
Rook looked at Eric for a moment then smiled.
Eric continued with his thought, "I didn't really see, at the time, how it
would have helped her training, and the potential for me to get hurt went
up quite a bit."
"How effective is a sparring session when one person keeps crumbling to the
ground?" Rook Queried.
"Not very."
"I estimate you to be a better fighter, despite any enhancement she may
have."
Eric smiled.
Rook disregarded the smile, "Additionally, if her chip had been turned off,
I would have stood watching"
"I'm flattered"
"If she made any move to kill you I would incapacitate her and punish
her later."
"And hope you were faster than she." Eric interjected.
"If you had beaten her soundly we could show her that the chip
isn't all that is keeping her there... maybe break her fighting
spirit a bit with a blaster at the ready ... I would hope I am
faster...otherwise I have no business being here." Rook finished,
acknowledging Eric's' concern.
Eric smiled again, "That makes sense. She certainly could use some
reduction in...spirit."
"I really do not have anything against you." Rook assured him.
"That is reassuring." Eric admitted, with a crooked smile.
"To be honest, I had reservations when you first became a member of the
household, but you have shown your loyalty." Rook said.
Eric smiled, "I also have a request to make of you. I will be leaving with
Shade to take care of some things off world."
Rook nodded, "I had heard about that."
"I will need someone to take care of my duties in regard to household
security while I'm gone. You are the only one I would trust to do so."
Rooks surprise showed though, "It is my turn to be flattered."
"Very few others in the house are trustworthy enough to take such
responsibility"
This peaked Rooks curiosity, "why do you say that?"
"In fact, with the exception of Lillith, who shade has asked to
take care of his part, I believe you are the only one I could see
trusting. Kylie is a Jedi. Corwin, Tina, are both too young and
inexperienced, added to which Tina does not want to be here. Rachel
has proven her self to be completely untrustworthy in my opinion. I
feel that she will be a problem in the future. Sidra? Well, that
speaks for it self. Avon? I could never bring myself to trust her,
she is ... well, she is after all Avon, notorious around the galaxy.
"Why do you not trust Rachel?" Rook had his own thoughts on the matter
but, wanted to hear Eric's.
"Rachel?" Eric questioned. "Well, it is my impression from the
happenings at port Lansing that Rachel is not totally...herself. her
behavior while carrying the...spirit? of Darana was very odd I have
little knowledge of the over all picture, these are just my
impressions, my gut instinct if you like."
Rook nodded, "I get that impression too. Though I was not present
while she 'carried' Darana."
"I only saw her on one occasion before they were separated,
however from what I have heard of her interaction with Shade, there
is great doubt as to where her true loyalties lie." Eric concluded.
"Tell me something..." Rook said, lost in thought, "Why is it that Rachel,
Regina, was not herself, but I was able to retain my sense of self and
did not change from the encounter with you."
Eric thought about that for a minute with Rook watching him
intently. "I can't really say. I suppose that had I been on the
outside, instead of the inside when I was with you I might feel
differently about it, but as it stands right now I have seen no
changes in you from then until now. Perhaps there are other things
at work on Rachel than those that we know about? As I said, I was
not involved with her much."
Rook nodded, "Understood."
"Perhaps had I been more myself when I was with you I might have
taken advantage of the situation. But being that I was not having my
best day... " Eric smiled.
"How...comforting." Rook retorted, "Do you still feel this way?"
"Do I still feel what way? That I should have taken advantage of you?"
"Maybe not should, but would... "Rook pauses, "Would you do it now?"
Eric leaned back and thought about it. Rook, his fingers steepled, again,
watched Eric intently.
"That is a dangerous question to answer, Rook. If I say yes,
you will not be able to trust me as much as before. If I say no,
then I am obviously passing up an opportunity to gain advantage for
myself, something that I am not known for, and thus my answer is
suspect. Let us say that I respect you and your abilities, and that
I would not do anything to impede your service to the household and
Darana."
Rook smiled, "Good sidestep."
Eric chuckled softly and nodded.
Rook continued, "But what you might view as impeding might
differ from mine. Perhaps you might see my service to Darana and the
household being improved by your own hand at the reigns. You say you
trust me. I trust you for the answer you give. I trusted you to an
extent when I knew you were in trouble and had the potential of
assuming control when I 'carried' you. I want to hear your answer,
and I do not care what your reputation is. I form my own opinions
based on the facts available to me...not on hearsay."
Eric smiled, "Then my answer is that it depends greatly on the
situation at the time. Should I be presented with the opportunity
today to take advantage of you by planting some command in your brain
or the like, I would not. However that is based on my current
standing with in the house, and my relative safety from those that
would harm me. Should any of that change in the future I cannot say
my answer would be the same."
"That is good to know."
"I feel that anything I did to you would effect you as the
individual you are, and any time you mess with the insides of someone
else's mind you change them. That is usually not a good thing,
especially for someone as talented as you are."
"Again you flatter me. It is nice to know that ones skills are recognized from time to time." Rook said.
Eric smiled confidently, "I like to think that I am able to
recognize such things when I see them."
"So about the rest of the members?"
"Where was I?" Eric paused, trying to remember all of the
members, "Avon, well Avon's Avon. Takara, I would trust her, she has
shown loyal service to the house, but considering her recent
transgressions...well she is not a good choice, and I would still
take you over her, mostly on gut feeling. Katrina...well, let's just
say I question her motives for being with the house. Michael... I
don't know well enough to make that judgment Ralf...well, Ralf is a
complete waste of living matter. Klaw...is too young in my opinion
for such responsibility, he is still learning about this world we
live in, and he has some way to go And lastly Arcturus...he is
definitely doing the household more good where he is now."
"It's good to see your perspective on these people." Rook replied.
"I will accept your responsibilities while you are gone. It
shouldn't be very difficult."
"Let us hope that is the case."
"Is there anything else that I can do for you?" Rook asked.
"I don't think there is anything else right now."
"Very well. Let me know when you plan to leave on the mission and we will
switch over codes."
"I will do that." Eric Rose to leave, "Thank you."
"Certainly."
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