"I'll take care of that as soon as I'm done here, then." Inconvenient how Daisy isn't here to radio the ship and have Tim send the files, but they shouldn't be seen to be attached at the hip, so it is what it is. "And I suspect you'll want to hear about - my expectations, what I'm looking for here?"

"I would appreciate that, yes."

This is where she dies, if Kalbetis is a normal Sith and somehow acting, and she's sure enough that she's not but that doesn't mean she's not on edge. "I'm not looking for a master, first thing. I know the common wisdom is that Sith can't live in close proximity without that kind of deference, but I know what it means that you're a Darth, and I think I can stay out of your way well enough, and if it turns out I can't I'd like the option to leave rather than whatever else it might take. I don't want assignments, of whatever type. I'll probably be interested in helping with projects or learning skills but I want the option to say no, every time. If you're worried about me pulling my weight we can set something up - paying me for my work and having me pay for food and lodging and things seems like the obvious way to do it - but, again, I want the option to walk away if it doesn't work out. And I want, for my..." it takes her a second to find her voice again... "For my healing. I can't - if the wrong person finds out, I can't keep myself safe. If you want that from me I'll need help with it." Which isn't what she wanted to say, but it'll have to do.

"...If it helps: I am titled Darth.  I do not think that my holding that title must be the whole of myself, or that I am obliged to uphold the stereotypes where it is so horribly inconvenient as, for example, requiring me to hold utterly unquestionable authority.  And there is no military authority held so sacrosanct as medical authority, anyway.  Yes, this is nonetheless in a sense my personal domain, but it is open to you by my own will, and I don't believe I shall have the slightest cause to regret that decision.

"...I'm glad to hear that my instinct that the idea of even a seeming of master/apprentice relations was ill-suited, was correct.

"And - of course you can leave.  I should hope it will not come to that, but trying to force you to stay kills me more often than it kills you, I think, and it's not even you that does it sometimes.  ...I haven't exactly spent much time on contemplating futures that will not come to pass because I refuse to be the slaver the Sith revolted against, but seriously, Elsie would kill me if I tried, and I'd probably let her if had any choice left in the matter."  ...She shudders.  Some of the things the current Emperor's done...

She has a healthy respect for the Mind Trick's capabilities, and dare she say an almost prodigious talent with it - which is why she doesn't touch it except in very clearly consenting cases or to counter others' malicious use thereof.  If she can't make her way out of something that would otherwise require a Mind Trick with social skills, cold reading, Force empathy, and literally seeing the future, she'd rather be honest and kill them with a blade.

The Emperor, though...  The Emperor has the exact opposite of respect for the Mind Trick, in her opinion.

She has met the Emperor once and still has no idea how she managed to survive that relatively-unscathed.  Managing to land the story about her present position just right has made sure she sha'n't have any future invitations she does not specifically arrange, at least.

"And, yes, I was thinking that if we are not doing this as diplomatic protocol - and we aren't seeming to do so - then it's an exchange of goods and services.  Rather in your favor, as it happens.  But...You don't need to buy my protection, such as it is, with your healing, for what that's worth.  Those of us who actually understand the value of life and freedom are few and far between and you'd have at least my silence just from what I already knew of you."

"I expect it to take more than that, if I'm using it where anyone can see. And I've never known a Sith to respect any authority but another Sith's ability to kill them."

(She'd give pretty good odds of the claim that she kills Kalbetis in half the timelines where she's trapped being a lie. Only pretty good odds, that's a situation she's strong in and she only has to get lucky once, but against a Darth and a precog it's still unlikely that she catches a break before she breaks. It's a weird thing to lie about, given how sincere she seems to be about the rest; it raises the question of whether Kalbetis is able to beat her sensory skills and lie to her in spite of them. She'll have to keep an eye on that.)

"Mm.  Yes, they do tend to do that, don't they?  But death isn't the only thing that can render someone a non-threat, and I'm good at that sort of manipulation.  Cutting supply lines, simple sabotage of the tools they'd need to pursue their vendettas, coöpting their nominal power base out from under them, simply watching them be devoured by the sharks because their masters decided their protection wasn't worth extending anymore after some carefully constructed truths...  ...And while I utterly refuse to do such a soul-defiling thing, the Emperor provides an example that those who have heard of certain skills of mine that I publicize much less will fear.  If I ever have to face the Emperor within the range they can work Force techniques," and Force help her, she doesn't want to talk about this, but she can tell there's a horrible misunderstanding brewing and this is a way to cut it off at the pass - "I am damn well going to come prepared to discorporate myself preemptively, because letting the Emperor even attempt to mindcrush me would be a disaster.  Most of the scenarios I wanted to plan for, backing those chances that I mentioned earlier...  They start from the Emperor deciding that they wish to - suppress - my 'ambitions' - because if the relevant Dark Councillor takes offense to me I'd be forced to defend myself and I'd say I have good odds of winning - and my personal security contingencies against that exact scenario failing, which...  At that point I expect I would welcome a swift death before I could see my body turned against my allies and my people.  ...I can't see inside her head like I can with other future selves, and I don't know if that's because she's such a divergent state as to no longer meaningfully be me or she's trying to protect me from something, but...  It really doesn't look like it'd go well for anyone.  I've never seen even the Force risk anything that threatens that, and I wouldn't dare presume to risk you that way.  You represent a strategic asset, and alienating you would be...  Ill-advised.  Medics know how to take people apart just as well as they know how to put them back together."

"That said, if 'where anyone can see' is the only problem you're expecting, it's not like I don't have a fully provisioned medical department.  Disguising your work as advancement in mundane or mundanely Force-assisted practices might not even be a lie in the longer term, if the doctors can get anything from watching you.  If you want to let them; that's your choice.  ...Regardless...

"If it came to having to make 'being a miracle healer' possible for myself, or letting the scrutiny fall on the you-shaped void in my fief by the absence of better narratives, I'd take the hit of having to learn, and be seen and known to be learning, biological alchemy.  There's worse secrets I keep.  ...I don't want to be that resource to the Empire-at-large, but at the point that rumor of a healer leaks I'll have become one anyway.  Better I be able to control the narrative."

She nods along. "If it comes to that I'd suggest Dark Healing over alchemy, it'll be easier to sell - it's obscure, I'm not surprised you haven't heard of it, and you won't like how it works. I don't know enough about it to teach it, either - I might be able to reinvent it but I'd need experimental subjects."

"...Mm, I have heard of using the Force to transfer injuries or directly siphon another's lifeforce.  The former...seems to be only practically useful for medical purposes in niche circumstances, considering that it only moves the wounds and they still need treating - unless you're capable of actually spreading out the wound across multiple recipients, I suppose.  ...The latter, letting the Empire know I'm learning about it would be ill-advised.  ...I'm rather confident that that Force power, implemented on a large scale - or possibly simply sufficiently covertly, but some of the things propaganda blames Jedi for don't seem right - is why the Emperor hasn't died of old age, and being seen to investigate that one now might read as a threat.  Bioalchemy is, despite most biology being as complicated and backstabby as Sith politics, something like a skill that stems from my existing known interests."

"Ah. You'd know best, of course. Anyway, having your doctors observe my work seems reasonable and I'd expect them to be able to learn from at least some of it."

"We can hope.  ...Hmm.  There's another thing we should figure out, actually, if we're going to do that - which is to say, what do we want to say the story is for your non-injured presence in medical, if someone starts asking?  'Classified' just won't do."

"Oh, I won't need to be there. I have a 60 foot range with it, meditating, and I should be able to double that with a few months of practice. Give me a workroom on the next floor and I'll be fine."

"Impressive."  Indeed, she seems genuinely impressed, judging by the ghosts of feelings even she can't quite hide behind a placid mask.  "That will likely suffice.  We should, however, introduce you...?"

She nods. "Not yet, I think? I'd rather have a few months between when you picked me up and when things start looking strange. But I'll want to be in communication with them to know what my patients want done and to let them know about any issues that come up."

...She seems almost surprised by something Pradnakt just said, given that it takes just slightly longer for her to respond again.  "I do quite agree vis-a-vis 'not starting immediately, for security purposes', but that doesn't mean that planning for three months from now can wait until that day.  Still, if that's the timeframe we're working in, it's not urgent - though I shall likely have to tell the CMO of a healer rather sooner than 'in three months', to explain the requisition of model organisms - goodness knows I'll need them, as much as I wish I could pluck skill out of nothing.  They're aware I want nothing to do with supersoldier programs."

"Even that should probably wait a couple months, but if you want your people to be able to start researching the best way to do what you want now and you're sure they can cover their tracks well enough, sure, I can meet them. I traveled from Lapetcher to Yaguscin under the name Canna Darst if we want to use a pseudonym with a bit of a record behind it."

"My medical staff is quite effective at maintaining confidentiality, yes."

"...That might help, depending on various details - and you're already used to the name, I would suppose?"

"Not to the point where it has a major advantage over a fresh one. I expect to be fine answering to what I'm supposed to in either case." That's one of the advantages of supplementing her language processing with the Force.

She nods.  "We'll get back to you on that, then, when the cover's properly laid.  ...Mm, and if you will be here for a longer span of time, it would likely be a good idea to get your medical history on file in case it's needed, at least to the degree of 'do you have any allergies'; I'm sure you can take care of yourself if necessary, but that hardly means you should have to.  Which provides a quite natural excuse."

"I keep myself in much better shape than to have allergies, but yes, that makes sense."

She holds her poker face for far longer than she thought herself capable of, but she can't quite stop the ghost of a delighted giggle at that turn of phrase.  "Well said, and well done.  I had to turn to autobioalchemy the once, for... personal reasons, but I'm rather glad it wasn't over allergies.  The common implementations of that system are a mess, and one not lightly meddled with."

"It is one of the more complicated ones but you might be underestimating what it means that I'm a prodigy."

"On the contrary, I'd hope I rather do have an idea if anyone does, by virtue of personal experience with the sheer effort it takes to mimic even a fraction of that power without the Force aiding and abetting."  She shakes her head, seemingly at herself.  "But I digress.  If there's nothing further you'd like to discuss or ask of me, then we may as well make our way to medical forthwith."  Assuming there are no such surprises, then she shall stand and make her way to an innocuous patch of wall that turns out to have an elevator within it.  (Well.  Innocuous if you are not a sensor par excellence.)

Yeah, she's not remotely surprised. She follows along. "Is your team familiar with the protocol for a hibernating Sith?"

Her panic room, on the other hand, is well-hidden behind the room full of Force-warping miscellany and holocrons.

"I'm certain they've been supplied with the appropriate reference material, but I know I've never given them cause to reference it prior.  I can hardly afford it."

"It's pretty simple: You put the hibernating Sith somewhere quiet and don't bother them. Passive scans are fine but anything that could trigger their danger sense is liable to wake them, and they won't be oriented, and nobody wants that. In my case you should let my droids stay with me if they want to; they know how to handle themselves. It's unusually likely to come up, for me - I have a habitual effect that blocks poisons and drugs from affecting me unless I let them, so if I'm too badly injured to let a medic do their job hibernation is the only real option."