Death of the Archduchess

JP by Redsword7 & Skought

“C42.”

“Yes, sir.” The protocol droid stopped his task and straightened.

“You know who I am?” Kube challenged.

“I do sir.”

“And you received orders?”

“Yes sir.”

“Then let’s go, I get paid by the job, not the hour.”

C42 did a quick double-take, but decided against speaking and began moving toward the droid area of the suite. Senator Locke had sent confirmed orders that C42 was to make introductions, and as much as possible extend a directive to RED-1. C42 pondered several questions at once, for example, why didn’t Locke do this himself? That one was obvious, the senator was quite busy since the recent death of the Archduchess. Why was this non-official being tasked with official business? Again, with all the payments ‘off the books’ the answer to that was obvious too, as the work must be something the senator wanted to keep at arm’s length. There was usually plenty of such work and activity going on before Locke arrived, it shouldn’t be any surprise it resumed. The only real shock was how long it took to start again.

“Here we are sir, I shall send him to you immediately.” C42 went inside the droid room, while Kube was content to wait at the door. In short order, a much larger droid appeared and approached. It had to be RED-1.

“Are you ready to go?” Kube asked.

RED-1 paused "Go? I am always ready Master Kube and C42." As it walked out of the Droid room. The droid stopped by the door. "Kube and C42, where are we going? where is the Senator?" asked the Droid RED-1.

“I was ordered to make the introduction. RED, please treat Master Kube as you would Senator Fluzhi, that comes from the Senator himself. As for his location, the Senator is in meetings today.” C42 explained.

“A solid alibi.” Kube mused aloud. “He has distanced himself from what must be done, and for good reason. Do you understand RED?”

“We’re going to the morgue. It’s time to gather some data, specifically to determine what killed the Archduchess.”

"Ah... ok morgue. Death people are not any fun they just lie about and have no lively conversation," replied RED-1. with RED's tone, it was hard to tell if the Droid was joking or serious. "Yes Master Kube, that is within my parameters of operation. is there already a report of death done on the deceased Archduchess?" asked RED-1.

Now walking and looking over Master Kube "I will comply with the request, Master Kube." says RED.

“There should be a report, but it has been…delayed in being shared with the Senator. While he has been cleared as a suspect officially, someone is being... difficult.” Kube explained. He worried at first that traveling with the large droid would draw unwanted attention to them, but found the opposite happened. People ignored them both, droids were treated as low class, and for once this was proving valuable.

Kube had already arranged transport large enough for both himself and RED. “You know how to fly one of these?”

The Droid RED-1 looked at "Kube If I can fit but the last time I was a pitot I put a few dints in the craft." explained RED. "I find it interesting the record of the Archduchess I can find is inconclusive. Before you ask yes I can get records. For someone having a high profile. The security investigation report does not match the medical report at the hospital." says RED trying to fit into the driver's area. the droid pauses "Hmm. I have been cut off. " said RED-1 starting the speeder up.

"I'm not surprised, from what I've seen with the police work on this case so far..." Kube paused knowing anything he said could possibly be recorded and played back from RED's memory circuits. "There are many questions, which is why we have to get answers for ourselves, from the source." Kube busied himself with the document he had compiled so far for the case. He tried not to let it show his discomfort with the droid’s piloting…it was precise…but a little unsettling for an organic like himself. “You don’t have to get THAT close.” He muttered under his breath.

"Kube, I was within the safety margin" commented RED. The droid thought it did not account for the other speeder moving as it did. "we should be there in the next minute or two.

The duo arrived without further incident. “Once we’re inside, connect to the network and get anything you can about the Archduchess. Use whatever clearance you’ve got from Locke or otherwise. I’m going to go in first, probably encounter resistance, and I’ll need you to come in a few moments later and create a disturbance. I won’t have long, but it should be enough time.”

The main waiting area was empty, and quiet as… well as a morgue. No one sat at reception, and Kube thought this was going to be easier than expected. He tried the door, and it was locked.

“What are you doing?” The voice conveyed the suspicion and impatience of the attendant clearly.

“Oh yes, I’m here to claim my mother’s belongings.” Kube handed over the documentation Locke had provided officially making Kube the son of the deceased. “And I’d like to see the body, one last chance to say goodbye.” Kube tried his best to sound sad.

“Hmm, let’s see, vault-bay 94… Nope. No access allowed…” The attendant began and was interrupted when …

RED walked up thinking about how to access the data he wanted. "attendant, I am here for some information I have been sent by the Council to retrieve it." said the droid RED would not lie directly most droids can't lie. but Red did leave some details out like what Council could be Jedi most likely or the Senit either way most don't question it.

This information is satistical but sanative in nature. It is not on the common network and was told by the Council to come and get it, Master attendant." RED spoke with humility but authority to make sure he sounded official.

RED-1 looked down at the attendant as lines appeared scanning the attendant "Varrifining employment" commented RED.

Kube slipped away while the attendant was distracted by RED. In preparation for the mission Kube had downloaded the floorplan to the building, and now that he knew where to look, it was a simple matter of bypassing one door.
The idea of dead bodies being inside the compartments did not bother Kube in the slightest. No corpse had ever tried to hurt him in any way. And while it was likely he’d end up a useless pile of dead cells one day, he like most sentient creatures had developed the mental trick to not think about it all the time.
A simple “94” marked the spot, and to Kube’s delight, he found it was not locked. Inside however he was not delighted, as the body had already been cremated. Only a small pile of ash remained. “Dank Farrik” Kube muttered under his breath. He hoped RED had managed to get something useful.

RED was still keeping the attendant busy. "Verified who you are. Master attendant." The droid was silent for a moment breaking some encryptions and adding itself to some the of security protocols. "I am an investigator and I inspect accidental death for safety report purposes," explained RED. Which was not a lie not that the attendant could tell if RED was lying or not. It was a blanket permission and authority RED-1 had.

RED looked at a lot of cases there to make it look normal. He found the files he was looking for he saw two reports then a third about the cremation and the people who signed the orders and reports. one of the reports was overridden by a supervisor and then signed.

RED got copies of everything just like Noraml then covered his tracks. They would not even know he looked at the case unless they knew it was Red who looked at it. "Thank you for your time attendant," said RED thinking Kube needed to get back now.

RED looking at who is the supervisor here on duty I need that for my report." requested RED.

Kube returned to the attendant area without much fuss. RED was doing a good job of keeping him distracted.

“Let’s go.” Kube didn’t wait around to answer any questions from the attendant, either they had what they needed or they didn’t. Kube’s reputation wasn’t built on not getting the job done, but he also had to be practical. Whatever there was to learn it would be in the digital files, nothing physical was left to be of use.

"Yes master" replied the droid. "Thank you for your time, Attendant", expressed RED "You have been most helpful," Red informed the attendant. Red turned and walked away the attendant had a dumbfounded look on his face and looked a bit confused. As RED-1 disappeared around the building.

When RED and Kube got back to the Speeder. Red looked around to make sure it was clear. then got in and started the speeder. "Kube, we were too late to see the body they cremated this morning." RED started to explain as they drove. "But there is something interesting. The morgue report, police report, and doctor report do not match up. The Injuries are a little different in each report." stated RED-1 explaining what he found. He waited for a moment for Kube to think about what the droid said.

"From what I can tell she hit her head and died from head trauma possibly when she fell. Now there was some puncture wound near her neck. Also, I could tell they changed her blood toxicology to determine whether a recent drug intake had any effect on her at the time of their death. Some of her readings did not match like the MCHC reading." said RED as he barely missed another speeder.

"They did a good job of covering up things for the average person. But I am not an average Droid," said RED if he had a mouth you would think the Droid was smiling.

"Did you get anything that is traceable?" Kube wondered, "For example were you able to get the original toxicology information?"

RED was silent for a moment. "I can tell you that it was the inspector's office that altered the documents. Also, I have the original inspector's report. We could trace it back to them. I will assure you when or if they find out I got that information I will probably be scraped." RED sounded worried at the last part. "But to serve is what I must do." commented the Droid.

Kube exhaled loudly, "It's never a straight line..." He pulled up the file as RED piloted. "Inspector May-hue. Okay, let's change course and make a visit. I'm sending you his location now."

Giving a nod RED changed their direction with a steep dive then a hard turn to get into a new traffic line. RED narrowly misses other speeders. "Oppss.. little too close I think," commented RED as the speeder slowed. "You are right and we must be careful with Inspector May-hue. We might not want to be too direct with the Inspector," said RED making another turn. "I can tell if someone is lying outright though by tracking their body rhythms," explained RED.