Why do you believe in monsters?

Jingle, jangle. What a charming tone. Jingle, jangle. It was so archaic, an actual bell on an actual opening and closing door. You stepped in and out of the doorframe a few more times past the glowing neon that declared that this establishment was the Black Hat Bay, a junk shop disguised as a tech store. Or a tech store disguised as a junk shop. Or a front for some manner of illicit enterprise, you couldn't be certain, but it certainly wasn't kept afloat by walk in business. The shop was empty, even the staff seemed to not care about maintaining the appearance of operation. From the back you had heard someone yell just a moment, then again more angrily with each pass through the door you made to take your enjoyment of the musical tone.

You weren't sure what you actually were enjoying more. The sound of the bell, or the anger of the shopkeeper from the backroom. Perhaps a bit of column A, and some of column B. When he at last walked into the main room, scowl adoring his stubble covered face you took note of his appearance. A bit older than yourself, maybe a few inches taller, but oh what a nerd. Bottle rim glasses, and dressed in what could only be described as hacker chic. His brown furrowed more as he watched you watching him. Confusion visible on his wiry features. Oh this would be a treat, wouldn't it?

You waited for the first syllable of his question, sentence or anger to manifest and cut him off as he began, "I'm looking for a voice modulator. Preferably something older and more easily modifiable."

Behind your leathery mask you grinned.

Damon had been on the verge of slicing into some choice accounts when the stupid bell had chimed. A bit of trade he'd gotten from one of the other merchants he'd installed it on the door for the sake of irony. Running a electronics shop with an analog door chime. It made him chuckle, and that was all that mattered to him. Right now he was genuinely angry at it though. Either there was a sudden rush on salvaged electronics... which.... he don't think there was? The last time he'd seen so much business was during one of the holidays of the local do-nothings, and Void couldn't be bothered to memorize every stupid tree or ancient story the dregs around here worshiped, or someone had found it amusing and couldn't help themselves. Even yelling out at them to give him a moment, in hopes they'd just frag off, didn't seem to stop it. Ten second later the damned bell again.


Void slammed his headset down with an angry growl as he realized he wasn't going to be able to ignore this and stormed from the backroom into the shop. He'd been ready to curse up a storm, but was... more confused than anything. There was a thing standing in his shop. It looked human...oid? But he couldn't tell because of all the layers and hood and mask? Who wore a mask inside, and on the station no less. Shouldn't security be up this person's crev by now? Whatever. He waited for them to say something, anything... and got nothing for the longest time. Empty space hanging between them before he cut through it himself.


"So-" And then they spoke. Over him. No apology, not mistake. THAT had been intentional. Well, seems like this person was just a douchebag. Still... interesting request. Void arched an eyebrow behind his glasses, and considered. Modulators weren't illegal, per se, but there were a lot of restrictions on them. Including just how good the modulation was, or how close they could make it to other sounds or voices. Hell he remembered one of his old contacts telling him ages ago they used to use the things for slicing. Mimic tones to get through audio passcodes or even log-in dialups with the right series to trigger a reaction on whatever they were calling up. Wild stuff. And they wanted one that could be modified. What they were asking, really asking, was for one pre-regulations. That was interesting.


"Well you know, older models are hard to get a hold of. Strictly for collectors. Can't use them for actual modulation anymore, laws about that sort of biz. I got a few newer models though, should be free and clear."


Void wanted to see just what they were asking for before he tested the waters to see if he could trust them enough to sell something like that. Last thing he needed was a sting operation bringing him down.

You all but cheered internally for the annoyance you could tell you'd brought the nerdy little slip of a man. He was an absolute joy to harass, the way his brow knit, the way his glasses slipped when you'd spoke over him. The displeasure on his face when he'd figured out you were enjoying it. Just a fun little toy to poke and prod. And yet he maintained his composure, a cool that he didn't deserve. Cool was antithetical to this basement dweller, but he must have had practice in faking it, because his next comments were so very curious.

Collectors and laws. And an air, behind it all, of suspicion and interest. Why it was just so stereotypical. You'd almost broken out in applause at it all, a delightful show of hide the contraband until you knew it was safe to sell. You'd never rat him out to the authorities, that would mean dealing with them yourself and you had no desire to soil your trip to this lovely little station with such an experience. No, no... it was much more acceptable to merely interact with someone a bit more on your level and you had a feeling this little bit and byte was just such a temporary companion.

You leaned in conspiratorially. "But those are so limited." You said with as much lyrical lilt as you could give your broken vocal chords. "As you can hear," you motioned at your throat, "a horrible accident has left me with difficulties. I cannot possibly take something meant to merely be a child's plaything, or a collectors display trinket. I need something that grants me... sufficient range."

You turned your back to him and gave a dismissive shrug as you took slow, methodical steps towards the door with which you'd jingle and jangled your way into his shop. "I suppose I can always find someplace else to spend my credits if your store is so poorly stocked." You were left wondering just how much of an ego this man had, and if he'd take the all too obvious bait you'd laid out.

Void watched the figure turn to leave and wanted to ignore the obvious goading. It was so transparent, like a holonet site advertising it as impossible to slice. Of course it was a trap. But that didn't change his desire to spring it and still manage to get away. It was part of the game.

"Well. Lets not be too hasty." He moved to stop her, him, Void still hadn't picked up on anything solid in figuring them out. The robes were loose enough to hide their body structure, the mask and hood gave away nothing of the face, and the voice... well the voice sounded more like someone had gargled with razorblades than anything. Damn, who or what were they under that getup? Another secret to slice away at maybe.

"You can at least see what I've got first, yeah? You don't want what I have, then you walk out." He motioned the figure back over to the counter and opened up some drawers, rifling through them before setting out 3 modulators. One was a toy, literally. The VoiceBOY. Cute modulator that was most well known from a holovid some years back where a lost kid used it to cause all kinds of mischief, real thing didn't work anywhere near as well. Deeper and higher only, and no real fine tuning.

The second one was a more stock standard unit, legal on the market, all kinds of restrictions on it's use and limited to very specific settings. The sort of thing every shop who carried something like it would have stock of. The potential buyer could get this one anywhere. The third... the third was an antique. Pre Empire, pre regulation. He couldn't believe his luck when he'd come across the damn thing here on Jovan of all places. He'd taken it in trade for some old security cameras and monitoring systems. The guy, some chipmunk lookin' Munjie had been having break-ins to his apartment and wanted to set up a system to find out who was getting in and how. He'd been ecstatic when Void had taken just the modulator as a fair trade.

'Fair.' The cameras and tech was low-end. Scavenged from the trash of another shop who'd just upgraded. Old and pre-Empire tech like he'd gotten out of the trade? Now that had real value to the right buyer, and he may have just found them.

Your head cocked as you looked over the little trinkets laid out. One of them is what you'd expected. It was standard, simple, basic, boring. The other two were more interesting indeed. You picked up the first one, flipping it's odd shape about in your hand, judging it's weight. You'd SEEN this one before. Vid from your youth, Poor lil' Alaric, lost on Coruscant while his family was on Tatooine for Life Day. You always wanted one of these.

You held it up with a nod, waiting for confirmation before turning it on, a small nod of approval, and spoke into it.

"You'll never take me alive. You dirty rat."

You couldn't remember the exact line from the vid, but that was close enough. You fingered the settings and played it back, delightful glee spreading on your face beneath the mask as it pitched up or down. It did little to mask your problematic voice, but still, this was a small piece of a childhood lost returned to you. With some reluctance you set it aside. It wasn't what you were here for. Not really, though you may make an offer on it just for the sheer novelty of buying it.

Your hand moved to hover over the standard unit, and then quickly passed it by. Oh you could play the game, draw it out, but this one had already given you more joy than you were expecting, so you'd give him a moment's respite, moving to pick up the real star of the show. You glanced it over, inspecting it's settings - which... were fairly alien to you. You didn't know tech that well. It wasn't your area of expertise. It SEEMED to do everything you'd like it to, or at least could in the hands of someone who knew what they were...

Hmmm. HMMMM.

"This is a very interesting piece of kit." You said honestly and leaned in to the wiry slicer, and he was, you were certain of that. He was almost comically stereotypical. It couldn't hurt to have someone like that in your pocket. A contact on this station who could keep an eye on systems and concerns so that you didn't have to.

"And of questionable legality." You added with a bit of a drawn out sigh. "Dangerous, dangerous."

Void kept his eyes steady and the ice in his veins. The freak was right about one thing at least, they were in the dangerous part of their little dance. How much could he say without incriminating himself? How much would they reveal of who they were, order or chaos? They could be on the same wavelength, the same operating system, but he may have been a black hat to their white. Not that he expected that at this point. Void was getting the measure of this thing, and it wasn't some damn Sec. type.

"Depends on if I lock it before I sell it." He said bluntly, "It's fine for me to have it here for sale, just gotta make sure I'm on the up and up when I hand it over."

He deepened his grin a bit, pushed a bit harder, sliced a bit deeper.

"Which, of course I'll do. That's the law after all. I don't have a good reason to break the law, right?" Sure it was Imperial Law, and this was an Alliance station - but they didn't need to know that for the game. Alliance probably had similar regs anyway.

Inside you laughed and laughed. He thought he was slick. They always thought they were slick, but you did find it cute how hard he was trying. Maybe he reminded you of someone you liked once, but slicey boy was growing on you. You didn't answer, just... titled your head to one side then the other. Let him wonder what that meant, it was fun to keep them guessing sometimes.

Finally you drew a hand into your robes and slipped out a credit chit, sitting it on the table between you both and leaned your head into your palm as you rested your elbow on the glass of his display counter, right about the Please Don't Lean sign that was taped to the inside.

The freak looked like a frellin' bird with the mask and those head movements. Whatever coy game they were playing slipped away as soon as the credit chit was brought out. That was a power move. Took all the discussion out of the air between them and gave it a solid, definitive presence. The thin slicer adjusted his glasses and ran his tongue over his top teeth before giving a small nod and picking his chit scanner with one hand and the monetary offer that was sitting on the glass. Which they were leaning on. Damon considered saying something, but this wasn't the time for that. Not unless you checked the chit and it was a joke of an offer.

He pressed the chit into the device and waited for the numbers to load. Weird, didn't usually take this long to. He blinked, lowered his red-tinted glasses slightly and felt his mouth run dry. That's a lot of zeroes. He looked back at his customer and got no discernible reaction, then back to the scanner to make sure he wasn't misreading something.

"E...Excuse me a second." He managed to finally squeak out as he walked around the counter, past the figure and to the door. He pressed the keypad and heard a whir, then a 'chunk' as the locks slid into place and he turned off the archaic neon that hung in the window that announced they were open.

"Okay let's talk real business." He said walking back and behind the counter to put both of his hands on the glass and stare at the items between them. The credit chit, the scanner - still reading an obscene number - and the voice modulators.

Oh stars, the way his eyes lit up. You were certain, very certain, he had actually gotten an erection from the number. Pervy little number-runner - did the big 0s make you all excited? Gross. But now you knew what he liked, what he wanted. Same thing they always wanted.

A Holonet advertisement from somewhere or another filled your memory. 'Guys only want one thing, and it's disgusting.' You forced yourself to stifle a chuckle and waited for him to finally compose himself. Getting down to business was a good idea. As fun as this was, and you could see yourself toying with this little slip all day, you did need to actually do business with him. The number had merely been to make your point, the actual negotiation began now.

"Both." You tapped the table at the older model and the toy you'd taken an interest in. "And you tell me what other services you offer." There was always a use for having someone like this in your pocket, and if you could buy him, he'd be worth the stolen credits. A resource to call on when you needed, and a source of entertainment from his sweating little neediness and nerdiness.

Both? That was an incredibly generous offer for... and Void let a little internal sigh slip out at the other half of the bargain. What... OTHER... services he could offer. He doubted very much that the robed figure was propositioning him for a good time.

He really hoped that the robed figure wasn't propositioning him for a good time.

Well you know what? He'd at least finally figure out what they were hiding if they were - but they weren't. No they figured him for what he was, and to be honest he wasn't subtle about it. Black Hat Bay? C'mon. It's in the name. Of course he could be as obvious as he wanted, and what mattered was what could be proven - and he was real careful about keeping anything illicit in the backroom and away from the eyes of station security.

He moved the unwanted modulator back into one of the drawers, leaving the two they'd agreed upon on the counter top, but off to the side. "Well, first, we'll just assume you want these two in an... as-is condition, yeah? That's a bit extra on top, so we have to figure that, and the price, against what's left... to see what you can afford." He tried to get a read on the bird-like mask for any tells and gave up after a few moments.

"Let's start with an introduction, huh? You can call me Void. Damon Void - and you are... Mr... Ms....?" He fished for more information about his new client.