Sidious looked between Maul and Talzin. If he was going to collect dangerous criminals for Plagueis, it might be easier if he did it without a baby zabrak in tow. He could leave Maul with the caretaker droids for now. He would merely-move them upstairs. Something in him couldn't bring himself to leave Maul in the lonely cavern he had carved out to conceal his Apprentice, even if it would be the easiest solution. He knew with a feeling of absolute certainty then that he never wanted Maul to have to see that loathsome place again. It had been created with a much crueler intent than he could now bring himself to implement.

Weak. Soft. Foolish. Sidious could easily expand the list of undesirable traits he seemed to have acquired. In fact there were several Sith curses he felt could much more adequately express just how far he had fallen. He was still berating himself for not hiding Maul before answering his Master's call. There had been time, but a completely irrational part of him had been unwilling to let the tiny zabrak hybrid out of his grasp. His Master had not been fooled. He had merely chosen to overlook the issue for the moment. It chilled him to think what punishment Plagueis might see fit to mete out once that moment had passed.

But still, he had gotten away with it for now. And so Sidious had made up his mind, however much he might come to regret his decision later. He called up the holoscreen at his desk and searched until he found an appropriate form template.

"What are you doing?" Talzin asked, her tone one of mild curiosity. She was now standing next to him behind the desk.

"Adopting Maul," Sidious said. He filled out the forms, falsifying most of the entries.

"But-you've already adopted him."

"True, but there's no paperwork, and that matters on Naboo. I can't just go walking around with a child who's clearly not mine, with no record of how I got him. People may start asking inconvenient questions."

"Oh. So you do plan to take him outside. That's a relief, then."

Sidious didn't answer. Maul, meanwhile, had crawled up Sidious's robes and started gently tapping his tiny hand on the Sith Lord's nose.

"Just a moment, Maul," Sidious said, craning his head to look at the holoscreen. Having finished the forms, he then used a program he had earlier obtained from a slicer to deposit the records in the appropriate locations-one in a large orphanage on Coruscant, the other in the records office on Naboo. He had no idea how the program worked, of course, but unlike Plagueis, such details had never troubled him. The important thing was that it did work, and very effectively. Though he had never imagined it would be put to this specific use.

"There," he said. "It's official." Maul is mine. He lifted the child up, smiling at him, and then placed him on his shoulder. Then, he looked over at Talzin. "And now, we come to an important question. When were you planning on leaving my abode?"

"Soon."

"Ah, that's good to hear. When you leave-"

"I thought I'd come along on this little trip of yours. I plan on returning when you do, of course."

"What." Sidious stared at her.

Talzin smiled. "Did you think I came all the way here merely for a brief glance at Maul?"

There were two issues here that Sidious felt needed to be addressed. He decided to address the longer-term one first.

"You cannot seriously think that I will allow you to stay here," he said.

"You should. There is a great deal I have not yet told you about the power of the Nightsisters."

"And I'm sure we can arrange for you to tell me that somewhere besides my personal apartment."

"True. But consider this-I can help you protect Maul."

Sidious was silent at that, trying to formulate a suitable retort. But none came. He had thought he was being clever, earlier, using her affection for Maul for his own personal benefit. But now, it seemed, she had turned the same tactic back on him.

"All right. I'll allow it." He held up a finger. "But there are a few terms you must agree to."

"Yes?"

"One-you do not enter my room. Ever." He would not have her riffling through his Sith tomes, his art collection, or sleeping in his bed. He pointed to the couch. "You can sleep there."

"Sure," she said serenely.

"Two-absolutely no one besides myself and Maul will know you are here. You will make yourself invisible if necessary-a skill I know you are quite capable of."

"No problem," she said, and smiled.

"Three-you will not interfere in Maul's education as a Sith Lord."

"Agreed," she said, though not without some amount of sourness in her voice.

"Then we have a deal," Sidious said. Now to address the second issue. "Oh, and you will not be coming along with me when I go on this criminal collection spree for Plagueis."

"Why not? I could help with that, too."

Sidious crossed his arms. "And why would you do that? Plagueis intends to use them to discover a way to reverse what you did to us."

"That may be what he intends, but there is no way to reverse the effect of the Font, Sidious," Talzin said. "There have been attempts, of course, but none who ever succeeded. It is impossible."

"Yes, yes, that's very nice," Sidious said. "And do you know what that means?"

"Plagueis will fail."

"No, because impossible just means everyone gave up when it got too hard. But he will keep digging and digging until he's broken up whatever causes that glorified pond muck to work into tiny pieces, and those pieces, into tiny pieces, and so on, until he knows how all the parts fit together and has worked out everything they do and how they do it. And then he will know how to reverse it."

"You cannot break love up into pieces," Talzin said.

"No, I cannot. But Plagueis can. The universe is just one big puzzle box to him."

"I would like to see him try," Talzin said smugly. "Anyway, do I detect a note of concern from you? Perhaps you no longer want this to be reversed?"

He scowled at her. "What do you think? I want to protect Maul. And that includes from old me. Especially from old me. But I can't exactly ignore a direct command from my Master. I'm not ready to confront him yet."

"Then bring me with you," Talzin said. "If what you fear does come to pass, you will not have to face him alone. But I would like to see him. In the flesh. To study the studier."

Sidious hesitated. What Talzin had suggested was unSithly, a blasphemy even. A Sith who could not kill their Master alone was no Sith at all. Then again, allowing his Apprentice to use him as a jungle gym was also very unSithly. Perhaps he must allow himself to be more flexible if he wanted to succeed.

"All right."

In the end, they took Maul, too. Sidious realized he no longer trusted leaving Maul alone for so long with the caretaker droids, and an ordinary babysitter would hardly do. He also took one of the caretaker droids, though, as both Sith and Nightsister feared the prospect of changing their tiny charge's diapers.