Surgeon

By the year 5 ABY, the droid known as the Surgeon made its home on the planet Netalych, specifically within the DN-949A outpost. This location was once a fueling station and chemical processing center for the Galactic Empire, but it was taken over by its droid population following the Imperial defeat and the death of Emperor Palpatine during the Battle of Endor. From a secure bunker inside DN-949A, the Surgeon performed various procedures for the outpost's inhabitants. These operations included droid repairs, fitting human servants with restraining bolts, neural implants, and complete conversions for travelers. The Surgeon maintained contact with "the Harch," who managed a crew on the space station Whitedrift Exchange.

During that year, Colonel Soran Keize of the 204th Imperial Fighter Wing sent Yrica Quell, a former pilot from the 204th who had previously defected to the New Republic, along with a strike team from the fighter wing, to DN-949A. Keize had learned about the Surgeon during his brief tenure working under the Harch. Although her strike team was unaware of the true mission, Quell was to meet with the Surgeon and have the droid analyze the remains of one of the late Emperor's Messenger droids. The purpose was to determine how the droids selected participants for the devastating Operation: Cinder campaign. Upon the arrival of Quell and two companions, Nord Kandende and Agias Rikton, the Surgeon questioned their reason for visiting, speculating that they were travelers in need of an operation. Quell informed the Surgeon that the task was data reclamation and offered credits, but the droid discerned their needs before she had finished speaking. The Surgeon opened the door to its inner workshop, but insisted that only Quell enter.

Once Quell was inside and the door had closed, the Surgeon extended its head from behind its curtain. After confirming her Imperial allegiance, the droid expressed surprise that Quell trusted it, given the typical opinion of droids held by most of her kind. The Surgeon inquired whether Quell desired a repair, which she firmly declined, informing the Surgeon that she only wanted the recovery of data and that the Messenger's remains should be destroyed if there was any indication of activation. The droid extended its arms to gather the components of the Messenger, arranging them on the floor for examination. As it worked, the Surgeon told Quell that none of her droid companions could have truly been her friends due to their inherent nature. Ten minutes later, the Surgeon concluded that it could fulfill Quell's request. Although Quell inquired about payment before leaving, the Surgeon had already arranged to take Kandende as a servant for one year.

The Surgeon succeeded in bypassing the Messenger's encryption, extracting the data that Quell needed and determining the process the droids used to select Imperials for Cinder participation. The Messengers evaluated several attributes to identify individuals sufficiently corrupt to execute the operation, drawing from a vast databank located in the Verity District of the capital world Coruscant. When Quell returned the following day, the Surgeon expressed its admiration for the Messenger and its processes, suggesting that it was closer to a computer capable of rendering emotions. Quell informed the Surgeon that it could not keep or activate the Messenger, which irritated the droid, before crushing the array of components beneath her feet.

When Quell inquired about how the droid chose its targets, the Surgeon threw a datachip containing the information at her, promising the Messenger's instructions, algorithms, and databases with a laugh. Quell asked the Surgeon whether it could keep its findings secret, and the Surgeon responded by asking if she would try to shoot it if it answered negatively. Upon Quell's insistence on an answer, the droid informed her that it did not care for the secrets that the Messenger held, believing it was solely organic business. The Surgeon promised to keep the secret, claiming to delete the details from its memory. Although Quell briefly considered destroying the Surgeon, she decided such an attempt would be futile. As Quell departed, the Surgeon told her to greet Kandende on her way out.

The droid known as the Surgeon kept itself hidden within its inner workshop, behind a curtain of wires. It possessed at least one head that featured chrome plating and two mismatched photoreceptors that rotated asynchronously. Upon meeting the Surgeon for the second time, Quell was certain that the head that emerged from the curtain was different, displaying duller chrome and one askew eye. The Surgeon also had numerous appendages, including three triple-jointed arms and an appendage that ended in a telescoping lens, as well as other arms equipped with tools such as laser scalpels and scanners.

The Surgeon displayed only a passing interest in droid solidarity and had no qualms about destroying other droids. It believed that droids were incapable of friendship with organics, viewing even droids designed to mimic organic thought patterns as fundamentally different. Instead, it held the belief that droids saw organics as interests rather than companions. The Surgeon was genuinely surprised that Quell trusted it with investigating the Messenger, believing that most of her kind would not have. It also showed no concern for what it found in the droid's programming, having no interest in the affairs of organics. Upon meeting Quell, the droid quickly deduced both the purpose of her visit and her Imperial affiliation. The Surgeon was impressed by the inner workings of the Messenger, positing that it was more of a computer than a droid, comparing it to a device whose primary function was to express an emotion, constructed by a culture that did not develop advanced mathematics but could render feeling and motivation. Nevertheless, the Surgeon was unable to express such an emotion, guessing it to be loathing or spite.

The Surgeon spoke at length and transitioned rapidly between ideas, which Quell found disorienting. When first addressing Quell and her associates, the Surgeon spoke with electronic disdain. The droid would also simulate laughter, either through a rustling of its wire curtain or by emitting a garbled sound. When told that it could not keep the remains of the Messenger, the Surgeon expressed irritation.

The Surgeon made an appearance in the 2021 novel Victory's Price, authored by Alexander Freed.