Talzin set Sidious down in front of her.  Talzin watched as Sidious walked over to the red sofa, sprawling down onto it.  Talzin sat down on the arm of the sofa near his slippered feet. Even though there was no need for it with the plush carpet, Talzin had noticed that Sidious always wore slippers indoors.  She had also noticed that he had put in new houseplants with actual soil. They were some sort of prolifically growing plant with long, pointed leaves and red and violet flowers.

"I suppose I should clarify that I do not see any strategic reason to avoid this Force bond," he said.  "By accepting it, we can more easily coordinate our actions."

"But you think there are other reasons to avoid it," Talzin said, guessing the direction he might be heading. "You don't know me well enough to trust me with such a connection." 

"Yes," Sidious said. "If I don't want you riffling through my stuff, I certainly don't want you riffling through my thoughts.  Even though you would only see anything I voluntarily shared, such sharing is... much more complete than through conventional means."

"I agree," Talzin said.  "It's also much more… visceral than conveying one's thoughts or feelings through other means." She knew that well enough from the Force bonds that connected her to Maul, Atherion, and Dremra.  Maul's emotions especially were so intensely strong, it was overwhelming at times.

Sidious gave her a skeptical look.  "I would have thought you'd be all for this."

"Really? And why is that?" Talzin asked. 

"You sounded awfully enthusiastic about the marriage idea."

Talzin considered her response.

"It solves a lot of problems, even if it is slightly awkward," Talzin said.

"True," Sidious said.  "Anyway, I can't pretend I had no part in causing our current predicament. It seems both of us may have gotten a bit too comfortable with this… arrangement."

"Yes," Talzin said. After all, a Force Bond had to be initiated from both sides. "I think that is an accurate assessment."

"So we are agreed?  This marriage is one of political and practical convenience only?"

They shared a long look, and Talzin wondered if the answer Sidious was hoping for and the one he was leading into were the same.  Still, she knew where her priorities were. For now. "Yes," Talzin said.

"Alright. Good. Then you should disengage from the…... connection."

"I’m trying.  These are not supposed to be difficult to sever from one side," she said, frowning.  “But I think you will need to help me here.”

"In that case, it would help me if you could do something particularly off-putting."

"Like what?"

Sidious shrugged.  "I don't know... maybe... talk about those meddlesome friends of yours?"

Talzin smiled. "Certainly.  I have known Atherion and Dremra both for many years, though I met Dremra first.  They were both fleeing from different Light Witch clans."

"Oh?  They weren't always Nightsisters, then?"

"No.  But they both learned quickly."

"You seem to place a lot of trust in them," Sidious said.

"I do," she said.  "They have been by my side since we were barely adults.  They were responsible for delivering Maul." They witnessed my death, and my return to life.  That last part Sidious did not need to know.  Nor that her husband had died, by her mother's hand, that same day.  Some things were deeply personal to her.

"They dislike me."

"Yes, and I don't see that changing any time soon.  However, in the interest of our alliance against the Jedi, I have asked them not to instigate any conflicts with you.  However, I will not stop them from retaliation if you make trouble with them."

"I... won't.  I don't really want to fight the lot of you."  He didn't say it in a way that indicated that he was intimidated by the idea, but rather as if he found it unpleasant, distasteful even.  "And I know that's how it would be. What did you say? They are your pack?"

"Exactly.  I'm glad you understand.  But what of you? I know you weren't ever a Jedi, but what were you before you became a Sith?"

Palpatine shrugged.  "A spoiled aristocrat.  Nothing special."

Talzin raised an eyebrow.  "Did you ever use your powers then?"

"Yes, in subtle ways, but I wasn't aware of what they were until after I met Plagueis." He hesitated, as if considering something else he might say on that, before changing the subject. "How many Light Witch groups are there?"

"I don't really know.  There are fifteen that my people encounter on a regular basis, three of which consider themselves at war with us, five of which have thus far mostly ignored us, and seven of which we have active treaties with…"

"Treaties?!" Sidious scoffed. 

"Yes, treaties," Talzin said.  "Not all of us solve our problems by killing everyone who stands in our way."

"So you just, ...what, ...let them do whatever they want?"

"No, we compromise," Talzin replied.  "We give up some of what we want--in return, they give up some of what they want. Thus everyone shares the dissatisfaction of dealing with those they find distasteful, which is wretched, but none of us wake to the other side trying to eviscerate us in our sleep.  A fair trade."

"Sith don't believe in compromise," Sidious said.

"And yet there have been treaties between the Jedi and the Sith," Talzin said. 

"Between the Jedi and the old Sith," Sidious corrected.  "A Baneite Sith would never compromise with a Jedi."

"Then you will die as foolishly as you have lived."

Palpatine crossed his arms.  "I would've thought you'd be all for destroying the Jedi Order.  Didn't you foresee they would be a threat to you?"

"One of many, yes," Talzin said.  "But I hardly think it possible to crush their entire Order.  I think it will have to come to a truce with them at some point, perhaps after some amount of... necessary mayhem."

Sidious shook his head.  "Oh, I would not count on that. Plagueis says the Jedi only deal in absolutes.  They seek to decimate the Dark Side, wherever it resides. We must destroy the Jedi in their entirety."

"There's too many of them!  That's not possible!"

"I disagree."

"The only other possibility besides an eventual truce that I can see is you getting yourself killed in some foolish plan," Talzin said, frowning.  "I have read of your Order, Sith Lord. Allya considered joining your lot for a time, but concluded your only path could be to ultimately extinguish yourselves."

"We will succeed.  Regardless of what your founder may have thought. Bane saw the true destiny of the Sith."

"Oh, really? And did he make any mention of you specifically in this vision?"

"No, but everything about his vision aligns with my future, the future of the Sith'ari."

"The Sith'ari.  What is that to you?  A future prophet?"

"Also no.  You--you believe in twin deities, do you not?"

"Yes.  The Son and the Daughter."

"I thought so. That is what the Sith'ari is. A god. The god of the Sith. Me."

Talzin snorted.  "You must be joking."

"Hardly," Sidious said.

"You are telling me that the Sith'ari is your god."

"Yes."

"And that you, specifically, are that god?"

"Correct!"

Talzin thought back to Allya's musings from the Book of Shadows.

To be a Sith is to gaze only upon one's own reflection to find power and wisdom.  For every voice of theirs chimes 'I am the Sith'ari! Yes, it is me, the savior of the Sith, the saviour of all!'

"Now I know why Allya thought you all such a hopeless waste of time."

"Sacrilege, but I'll overlook it," Sidious said, waving a hand, a warm smile settling over his features.  "I hardly need others to believe in me when I already believe in myself."

"Completely hopeless," Talzin said, though she couldn't entirely suppress her own smile. 

"Come now, don't you want your son to be a god?"

That gave Talzin pause.  "But you just said--you are the god of the Sith. I understand there is only one?"

"Yes. And yes."

"So, does he become the Sith'ari after you die?"

"I hardly think he should need to wait for that.  And of course Maul will become the Sith'ari. It is inevitable."

"You are making this very difficult," Talzin said, shaking her head.  "How can I speak meanly of you when you say such things?"

"Oh, right," Sidious said.  "I suppose I should get back to that.  But I must protest that you did a poor job of angering me, Nightsister."

"My insults were of the highest quality," Talzin retorted. "It is yours that lacked...stamina."

"Disengage the connection," Palpatine said.

"I am trying," Talzin replied.  "Maybe you should put more effort into it."

"I am putting effort into it," Sidious said.  "It is you who is not trying hard enough."

"Fine you--you Jedi-lover."

"Light-side user."

"Hah! Mine was better," Talzin exclaimed.

"Hardly," Sidious said.  "We both know it's not even remotely true."

"It is entirely true.  They are your tea friends now."

Sidious groaned.  He frowned, seeming to consider something for a moment.  Then he looked up at her, his expression grim. "There's something you should know about me."

"Oh?" Talzin said.

"I told you that my family was dead," Palpatine said.  "What I didn't mention... was that I was the one who killed them. Every last one of them--my parents, my younger siblings, my... twin sister.  My father, I don't regret. But the others, I do."

Talzin considered his remorseful words, and the haunted look of anguish in his eyes.  It was really all so satisfying. She wondered if he would notice how much she was enjoying this. Was one supposed to conceal that sort of thing on Naboo? Was it considered impolite? She supposed it didn't matter, since she wasn't Nabooian.

It really was a good tactic to tell her that, though, she thought.  It might be more difficult to relish such pain if she could directly feel it.

"That was quite terrible of you.  But not at all surprising, given what I have seen of you in the Force."

Palpatine raised an eyebrow.  "That wasn't surprising? What do I need to say to be sufficiently shocking?"

"I have studied the Sith, Sidious," she said.  "I know that your Order shuns attachments as much as the Jedi.  Darth Zannah framed her brother and ensured his death. Darth Malgus killed the woman he loved.  Your lives are one long winnowing of attachments to others. I have guessed that you would have been quite efficient in that respect.  It seems I was correct." 

"Not as efficient as Plagueis would have liked," Palpatine said.   "At least before all of ..." he began, waving a hand erratically, "this happened." He laughed.  "Seems he's changed his mind about that since."

"You're referring to that friend of yours, right?  Vidar Kim?"

"Yes," Palpatine said.  "He owes you a debt he will never know.  He'd almost certainly be dead by now if not for your interference."

"He owes me no debt," Talzin said.  "His change in fortunes was entirely incidental to my plans."

"Your plans to destroy the Sith, you mean."

"In a manner of speaking.  But, here you are, still speaking yourself.  So if you were destroyed, you seem to have rebuilt!  Perhaps I'm your Sith'ari."

Palpatine narrowed his eyes.  "Very funny. Though I suppose it is convenient that you seem to have some familiarity with Sith teachings. Since we are to reside in the same space for the time being."

"Yes, I have studied the Sith for many years," Talzin said.  "So I find it a bit puzzling that you already think of yourself as the Sith'ari.  What of Plagueis? Don't you have to usurp him first to claim that title?"

Palpatine laughed.  "Hardly! Plagueis thinks himself the Sith'ari, yes, but he has a rather different view of what that means than I do.  You see, Plagueis doesn't believe in concepts that he can't quantify by science. And so, he doesn't believe that he is a god, because he doesn't believe in gods.  But I do. And I'm right, and he's wrong, ergo I'm the Sith'ari."

"Ah, so it's about having a certain point of view, then."

Palpatine smiled.  "Yes. Yes, it is."  He gave an exasperated sigh.  "The connection still hasn't closed!"

"Yes, I've noticed," Talzin said.

"I can't say I haven't developed a certain fondness for you...but I don't know you well enough for this," Sidious said. 

"Yes, and I enjoy your company as well, Sith Lord.  But I agree," Talzin replied. "Force Bonds shouldn't be accepted rashly." 

And with that the connection was gone.

Palpatine widened his eyes.  "Oh. Finally!"

"Interesting," Talzin said.  "That did take an undue amount of effort, though."

"But now we know how to deal with it if it happens again," Palpatine said.

"True," Talzin said.  "You know, there's not a lot of writing on preventing Force Bonds from forming.  This could be useful information to record for others."

"Suit yourself," Palpatine said.  "But that sounds about as fun as volunteering for one Plagueis's experiments to me.  So don't expect my contribution."

"Of course not," Talzin said, amused. 

Sidious looked as if he wanted to say something more, but then thought better of it.  "I'm going to go do some research now. It seems I need to figure out how to deceive a Jedi who can detect Shatterpoints." He grimaced.

"I can help you with that," Talzin said.

"Ah, yes, I'd be most interested in your input," Sidious said.  "In the most extremely professional way, of course."

"Yes, certainly," Talzin said.  "I look forward to supplying my very professional opinion.  But first I'm going to go pick up Maul."

"Yes, that sounds very agreeable," Sidious said.  "I'll see you and Maul when you return, then."

Soon she would go to find Atherion and Dremra in the park, but first she wanted to record a few of her thoughts.  She took out her pen and notebook from her clothing, inscribed a few notes, and then returned them to the concealed pockets she had added on the trip back to Naboo.  The green dress was elegant, but the Coruscanti simply had no understanding of function. Why would anyone design clothing without pockets? Or internal armor? No wonder Allya had given up on them all.

"Halt!  You are not authorized to enter the Jedi Temple!"

Plagueis regarded the force pike wielded by the Jedi temple guard with mild interest.  The design was extremely similar if not identical to its ancient counterpart, with no significant changes or improvements to its several-thousand year old forebears.  The design of the mask the guard wore also had not changed in thousands of years. Attachment to tradition breeds complacency.  Which, of course, he would be counting on today.

Plagueis gave the guard a bland, polite smile, and said, "I have an appointment."

"Oh, alright, but you can't just walk in here.  Do you have an appointment slip?"

An appointment slip!  What delightful bureaucracy!  Now that was new. When Tenebrous had taken him here as a young Apprentice, they had been allowed to enter at request and had even been given a tour of the more public areas of the Temple by a bored guard, though the Archives had not been included in those areas.  At some point he had planned to take Sidious here, but it seemed that his Apprentice had already contrived a way to enter the temple on his own, if Coruscanti news reports were any indicator. He was always good about taking initiative.

"Ah, I'm afraid not," Plagueis said.  "But Jocasta Nu will be expecting me."

"Just a moment," the guard said.  She conferred through a voice-only communicator on her forearm for several moments.  At last she looked up and motioned for Plagueis to enter the Temple. "Jocasta Nu has arrived in the main atrium to escort you to the Jedi library.  Do not leave your escort or deviate from their instructions for any reason. Understood?"

"Certainly.  Me, disobey a Jedi? Perish the thought," Plagueis said, and walked past the guard.

Within moments of entering the expansive room, he saw the brown-haired Jocasta weaving her way towards him. "Ah, Magister Damask!  I'll admit I wasn't sure you'd come. I thought you may simply have expressed interest in the library out of politeness."

"Not at all," Plagueis said.  "I wouldn't miss this for all of Muunilinst."  To be fair, he much preferred the snowdrifts and glaciers of Mygeeto where he had been raised than the pastoral environment of the muun home planet, but even so he knew he was an outlier in this regard, and it was a figure of speech, in any event.

"Follow me, then," Jocasta said, walking deeper into the temple.  Plagueis examined his surroundings with more than a passing interest.  He had been here before, but much had changed in the intervening decades.

The temple was expansive, almost a city unto itself, with its own walkways, indoor trees and shrubbery, fountains, public transit, and interior buildings.  Enormous statues of Jedi lined the various walkways.

When they reached the library, Plagueis mentally prepared himself for the task  ahead. He took a deep breath to center himself. Of course, his physical preparations had been made already.  The Sith spider droids tucked into his sleeves were readying to begin their momentous task. This droid model had been designed by Tenebrous himself to be used as a more modern method of Sith warfare.  Stealthy and swift, they were perfect for the task Plagueis had planned ahead of him. 

Though what he had planned was... not exactly warfare, per se.  Unless one wished to call it information warfare, but even that might be a stretch.  No, today he planned to copy information which the Jedi had hoarded for generations, information which was not otherwise available to anyone else, for any price.

So, not warfare.

No, what Plagueis had planned was something quite different: piracy.

You wouldn't steal a speeder, he thought wryly, recalling the popular piece of propaganda distributed at the start of every holovid.  Of course, that was certainly untrue when the 'you' in question was a Sith Lord, and particularly if the 'you' in question had been a Bith named Tenebrous with a weakness for collecting vintage speeder designs.  Piracy. It's an intergalactic crime. 

One that I will soon be committing.

As Jocasta led him down the rows of shelves, he felt the cloaked spiders climb out of his sleeves.  Though he couldn't see their locations, he knew where they were headed--the data stacks. And the holocron vault.

"Is there a particular subject you'd like to see?" Jocasta asked.

"Medical research?" Plagueis inquired.

"Right this way," Jocasta said, turning left.  Plagueis trailed behind her.

Plagueis was very proud of his retrofitting of the spiders, and he thought even Tenebrous might have been impressed at the additions.  Though they had come at the cost of the poison injection capsule.

Additionally, he had Darth Traya's meticulous journals to thank for his design. Of course, she had used an extremely secure encryption scheme during her time as Head Librarian, but had lamented that her successor had opted to depend on Force locks operating on the principle of security by obscurity, making Traya's successive thefts from the library mere child's play.  To her, this reason alone was sufficient justification to destroy the Jedi.

"Here we are," Jocasta said.  She picked out a data card. "This is a text detailing some Jedi healing methods.  Here, I'll show some of the holos from it." She placed it into a projector, and it began displaying text along with anatomical diagrams of various species.

"Intriguing," Plagueis said. "I'm especially interested in learning what techniques might be transferable to non-Force users.  Damask Holdings is invested in a number of pharmaceutical companies."

"Many of our techniques are non-transferable, I'm afraid," Jocasta said.  "They require a Force sensitive, you see. But we do have a division that determines what findings are to be publicly released."

"Ah, I didn't know that," he lied.  Plagueis knew the Jedi believed that most of their healing techniques were useless to the wider world, and that, furthermore, disseminating certain knowledge about their practices and techniques would be dangerous.  He also knew that they had a very slow, ineffective method for releasing knowledge about their medical practices to the wider public. Plagueis thought this situation was one that needed to be rectified.

Of course, Plagueis could not use the Force in the presence of Jedi without alerting them to his Force signature.  So he couldn't use his own Force ability to open the Force locks. And the spiders he had brought with him were unable to use the Force at all.

But they wouldn't need to.  After all, the Force locks themselves were composed of mere inert matter, and opening them via the Force was merely one method by which they might be operated on.  Like a child's puzzle box, they simply required the right physical configuration to be solved. However, few scientists or engineers had ever considered this issue, and none had had the opportunity to attempt what Plagueis was about to.  Traya herself had used her own Force abilities and intimate knowledge of the library and her former peers to commit the largest heist of the Jedi Archives in all of recorded history. 

While Plagueis did not have any pretensions that he could top her sacking of the galaxy's most prestigious library, he thought that Traya herself might have appreciated his approach.  For while he had had to custom design his Force unlocker due to the lack of any off-the-shelf machinery that operated in a way conducive to unlocking them, the mechanism nevertheless operated on quite simple physical principles.

The locks operated like a data disk's memory, each microscopic bit representing a simple 1 or 0 in a binary array.  The major difference was that the locks were made entirely of plasteel, a non-electromagnetic reinforced plastic. So the method whereby the bits were changed was by physically flipping them.

Each side was a different color, and the machine's electronics used an optical scanner to read the resulting color pattern.

The method he would use to move them? Microwaves.  Specifically, microwave lasers. And as plasteel had a very high melting point, he needn't worry about the resulting heat being an issue.

"What else do you keep here?" Plagueis asked.

"Jedi history," Jocasta said.  "We have a number of biographies, such as that of Bastilla Shan, Lord Hoth, and Vodo-Siosk Baas."

"Intriguing," Plagueis said. 

"Yes," Jocasta agreed.  "We also have a number of training manuals for Jedi younglings to master, the results of Jedi scientific research, and--"

"What kinds of scientific research?"

"Oh, all kinds," Jocasta said.  "There is a science division for the more research-oriented Jedi."

Plagueis had to restrain himself from showing too much excitement.  "I'd like to see a few, if you don't mind."

"Of course not," Jocasta said.  "Allow me to show you where we keep the collection."

Jocasta showed him several tomes on physics, chemistry, and biology.  He was looking forward to examining these volumes in much more detail soon.  He knew that several of the spiders would be following him and copying anything he lingered on, so he made certain ask about anything that drew his interest, especially the texts on midichlorians.

"Is Qui-Qon in, by any chance?" Plagueis asked.

"Oh, I'm afraid not," Jocasta said.  "He and Dooku have been sent on a mission to Kalee by the Council to aid the Yamrii.  Those two are always in high demand."

Plagueis tilted his head.  "Ah, yes, Kalee. That is in the same sector as Muunilinst, my home planet.  Perhaps I will encounter them again soon after all." It couldn't hurt to muck around with their plans there a bit.  Surreptitiously, of course. He still wanted to stay in Qui-Gon's good graces, after all, to find out everything he could about the Jedi's search for immortality.  But really, what self-respecting Sith would pass up such an opportunity?

"Perhaps," Jocasta agreed.  She tilted her head. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?  I don't wish to pry."

"Of course not," Plagueis said.  "What did you wish to ask me?"

"What is your opinion on the Jedi Order?"

Plagueis considered his response carefully.  Obviously 'I hope to someday stand upon the ashes of the burnt out husk of your Order' would not be an appropriate reply. 

"Undecided," Plagueis said. 

"Hmmm," Jocasta responded.  "I understand that a lot of people are suspicious of the Jedi."

"You are a very secretive Order," Plagueis said.  "Secrecy begets suspicion."

Jocasta smiled at that.  "Fair enough. Especially for someone who is as much of an open book as you."

Plagueis blinked.  "Open… book?"

"Yes, I did research your background extensively on my way back to Coruscant.  Any entrant to the library must be personally vetted by a member of the staff before being allowed entry."

"Ah, of course," Plagueis said, smiling and attempting to tamp down his anxiety.  Not that he didn't go to great lengths to keep his more… Sithly activities from being linked to his public persona, but he still didn't like the idea of this Jedi looking him up specifically.

"Yes.  I was surprised to learn that your only living immediate family was your aunt.  Muuns are usually very long-lived."

Plagueis gaped at her. My father didn't have any… oh.  He had never looked up his mother's family, had he?  It hadn't seemed important to him, after he'd learned of her death.  She was the only one of her family he had ever known, had ever cared about.

"My father's family had a health issue," he finally managed.  "Both him and my stepmother had a dominant gene for early failure of the hearts that they unfortunately managed to pass to all their children, but due to my mother, not to me," he said, telling the usual lie, though he could no longer choke out the rest of the blatant untruth about trying to save them, and he didn't attempt to do so.  He tried not to linger on the regret he now felt, feelings that had long since scabbed over suddenly returned with nearly overwhelming intensity. He was responsible for those deaths. He and his father had not ended things on good terms, and his father had paid the ultimate price for that. "As for my mother--"

Jocasta gave him a sympathetic expression.  "You don't have to explain."

"Ah, of course," Plagueis said.  "I got carried away. I confess, I hadn't even known that I had any living relatives in my immediate family," Plagueis said.

"Your mother never mentioned her?"

Plagueis shrugged.  "Not really."

"Hmmm, Fala Damask must not have very close with her sister," Jocasta said.

"It seems she was not," Plagueis said. Though I rather suspect my mother's lack of mention of her sibling was motivated by concern for her well-being, and not resentment or apathy towards her.

"I must confess, though, now I'm curious about her." Perhaps he could even...meet with her? Though he wasn't sure if that was a good idea.  What would he even say? Still, perhaps he should think on it. Perhaps he should try to find out if his mother had had any unfinished business in that regard, though he had no idea how he would discover such a thing in the likely event that she had deliberately concealed information about her sister.  He had her old journals, but he'd read them enough times to know that none of them had ever mentioned her sibling.

"I can give you a flimsiplast with the information I found on her.  That was in a publicly available database, so we don't have any retention policies for it."

"Thank you," Plagueis said sincerely. One day in the future, when he was gloating over the ashes of the Jedi Order, he would ensure he had spared this librarian.  It seemed only fair.

"It's no problem," Jocasta said.  "Now, where were we? What would you like to see next?"

A thought occurred to Plagueis.  What if he took on an extra Apprentice?  Would it be possible to convince Jocasta Nu to become a Sith?  Of course, he wasn't yet sure it was. But it was worth trying, was it not?  He had sought to abolish the Rule of Two, after all. Though he worried that Sidious might be offended by such a thing.  But would his Apprentice perhaps be more willing to consider the idea if Plagueis encouraged him to train Maul as his full Apprentice?  He seemed to have taken a strong interest in his young charge. He would have to talk with Sidious about this matter.

"Magister Damask?"  Jocasta asked.

"Oh, my apologies," Plagueis said.  "I must confess to a curiosity about how you Jedi train younglings.  That must be quite a challenge."

"Oh, certainly!  I can show you a few things about that," Jocasta said.

Plagueis restrained from rubbing his hands together in anticipation as he followed the librarian down the row of shelves.  The Sith spiders following him would copy some of the items in that category now, too.    

It couldn't hurt to see what strategies the Jedi were using to train their young. Just for comparison, of course. Obviously a Sith would never train an Apprentice in the same way a Jedi would. But it might be useful for Sidious in anticipating problems that he might encounter raising a Force sensitive child to use their powers, which would not be something he could expect to find in a typical parenting book.

In the meantime, he thought it might be best to find out what he could about this librarian.

"How did you become interested in the Archives?" he asked.  "Were there any other occupations you considered?"

"Ah, I was a Jedi Master on the Council, but I resigned recently to take this post," she said.

"Really?" Plagueis said.  "I'm given to understand that being on the Council is considered a prestigious position among the Jedi.  I don't mean to pry, but was there something besides an enthusiasm for knowledge behind your decision?"

Jocasta seemed to consider her response.  "I've always had strong opinions, but I lacked the charisma to sway others to my side.  It seems I have a tendency to be overly blunt at times." she shrugged. "I felt too often at odds with the rest of the Council, to no good effect.  So I left, to go somewhere I wouldn't have to constantly butt heads with them."

"It sounds so crassly political," Plagueis remarked, intrigued by her answer.

"Yes, though I'd think that was something you would have enthusiasm for.  I'm given to understand that you throw quite exciting parties for those Senate friends of yours."

A very thorough background check indeed.

Plagueis laughed nervously.  "Talking to politicians can be so very, very dull.  Sometimes a good party can help make it tolerable."

Jocasta raised an eyebrow.  "Must work very well. From what I can tell, they tend to vote in favor of your lobbying."

"Oh, my," Plagueis said.  "How mortifying. How many of my sordid deeds are you aware of?"  He felt like an insect stretched over the slide of a microscope. Part of him half-expected her to name him a Sith on the spot.

"A number of them," she said casually.  "However, I must confess, your motives on the HoloNet construction project puzzle me.  True, the selfish option would only have resulted in a slightly higher profit margin for yourself, but that never seemed to stop you before.  Still whatever you have in mind for that, I'm glad to see it resulted in an actual advantage for someone else besides you or your cronies for once."

"Whatever motives I have, I suspect you may find them out sooner or later," Plagueis said.  "I can see that little gets past you."

"On the contrary, many things get past me, but I do spend my days sifting through thousands of years of information," she said.  "One starts to learn where to look for villainy that way."

And here I thought Qui-Gon was the distrusting one, Plagueis thought.  "Why did you invite me here if you believe I am up to no good?"

"Because that is not what I believe," Jocasta said. "I am... undecided as to what you are currently up to.  But I intend to find that out."

Plagueis laughed.  "Fair enough. I confess I'm a bit undecided on that myself."  Jocasta Nu might very well make a good Sith. But he would have to have patience, to see what direction she was moving in.  Even if she never chose to be a Sith, he sensed her path might someday diverge from that of the Order. But he would have to wait to learn what the future held.

At the end of the tour, Plagueis thanked Jocasta Nu before heading back to Kalani Spires, where he tallied the items that the spiders had copied. In all, they had managed a full 5% of the library.  A modest accomplishment, yes, but the volume of information dwarfed the current size of the Sith library. Though he didn't wish to merely fill out the personal library of the Sith, but also to release the information to those who might find a use for it. 

Except he would have to do that in a way that wouldn't attract undue suspicion to him.  He would have to think that over a bit more. He had developed some half-formed plans for that on the trip from Serenno to Coruscant, but nothing well-defined.  Still, he was confident he could refine those plans further. In any event, he was looking forward to giving Sidious the books on training younglings after he'd had a chance to talk things over with him about training Maul.

Maybe that would also distract him from asking about Plagueis's progress on reversing the effects of the emotional additive.