Siren's Port: Application
Player Information
Name: Skyla Doragono
Age: 26
AIM SN: AschLappyOfRAWR
email: skyladoragono at gmail dot com
Have you played in an LJ based game before? yes
Currently Played Characters: Szayel Aporro Granz | Bleach | omnomspecimens/omnomfornicaras
Character Information
General
Canon Source: Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic I\II
Canon Format: Game (with supplementary information from guide books and comic books; also, this is assuming that in canon, Revan was male and chose the Light Side in the end, and the Jedi Exile was a female and also chose to follow the light.)
Character's Name: HK-47
Character's Age: 9 years old
Conditional: If your character is 13 years of age or under, please clarify how they will be played. He's a droid. That kills things. Age isn't an issue.
What form will your character's NV take? It will be an add-on to his hardware and internal programming; the only indication that he has one will be a small knob on the side of his head that says "Siren's Port NV". Of course, because of this set up, him being able to display videos of himself will be impossible, though he can display video of what he sees through his optical sensors. Also, because poor HK has the worst luck when it comes to people tinkering with his hardware -- not to mention his internal programming -- he'll probably have compatibility issues until some stupid nice meatbag fixes it for him.
Abilities
Character's Canon Abilities: HK-47 is programmed as an assassin; in an effort to prevent massive slaughter, his creator deemed a single operative able to get in, kill the ones that mattered, and get out was necessary. HK does exactly that, and he loves it. The only thing keeping his trigger finger from never leaving his gun is the very important fact that he cannot kill unless expressly ordered to by his current master. Due to his outward appearance, most of his previous owners have mistakenly assumed he was a protocol droid. HK does not go out of his way to correct them, because he really does have some protocol capability that would be expected from such a unit, but due to his mannerisms, it's not hard to figure out he's something else.
Weapons: Aratech sniper rifle, standard issue Republic blaster.
History/Personality/Plans/etc.
Character History: HK-47 first came into being almost four thousand years before the destruction of the first Death Star, after the final battle of the Mandalorian Wars. The Republic was desperate for an end to the war, and that end finally came when the entire surface of Malachor V was completely devastated. Not long after, the Jedi commander in charge of the Republic's operations in the war turned to the Dark Side, coming to the conclusion that the Republic needed to be conquered. In order to prevent the same devastation that obliterated Malachor V, now Sith Lord Revan decided that a single unit set to assassinate political opponents was a much more efficient way of dealing with his foes.
Thus HK-47, based on the old HK-24 design, was born.
HK served Revan through the Jedi Civil War, the conflict between Revan's Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic, and also assisted in locating the Star Forge superweapon, in addition to the assassinations he was created for. These assassinations led to a mission in Mandalorian space, during which time Revan's apprentice Malak turned on him and Revan was captured by the Jedi. HK, meanwhile, succeeded in his mission, but was badly damaged in the process, losing most of his memory. He came into the hands of a Mandalorian soldier, who reprogrammed him and repaired him (though he did a poor job of it), and then proceeded to use HK-47 to eliminate his superiors so that he could be cleared up for a promotion. When the Mandalorian made the mistake of sending HK after the reigning Mandalore, the droid was captured and reprogrammed to terminate his master. Because HK was programmed to shut down once his master was eliminated, as soon as the Mandalorian was killed, he shut off.
HK was sold shortly after to Bochaba the Hutt, whom he assisted in maintaining the Hutt's reputation as the most feared gangster on Sleheyron by slaying 322 targets in one year before the Hutt was assassinated by his rivals. Once again, HK shut down upon learning of his master's death, and he eventually found his way to a senator on Coruscant. Initially, the senator believed him to be a protocol droid, though when his assassination functions were discovered, the senator decided to use HK to eliminate his rivals. It was not long before the senator would be elected as Supreme Chancellor, but before that could happen, he ordered HK to eliminate his wife and her lover. It wasn't until HK was about to kill them that he regretted the order, and jumped between the droid and the two lovers, resulting in his death. Once again, HK-47 found himself shutting down, and was then sold by the senator's wife to a tech at Systech Corporation, and once again, HK was mistaken for a protocol droid. After the tech discovered the droid's assassination protocols, he sent HK after the workers of a competitor company... that turned out to be another branch of the Systech Corporation. By the time the technician realized his mistake, HK-47 had already killed 104 employees. HK assumed that his new master would be promoted, but instead the tech attacked the droid; he pierced one of the droid's actuators with a writing utensil, electrocuting himself and sending an electric shock through HK that destroyed his assassination protocols.
And again, HK shut down.
Eventually, HK-47 found himself sold to Yuka Laka, an Ithorian droid dealer at Anchorhead settlement on Tatooine, where he was also fitted with a restraining bolt that damaged him further. There, HK was reunited with his old master Revan, whose memory had been erased by the Dantooine Jedi Enclave Council. Once again, Revan was trying to find Star Forge by hunting down the Star Map that would lead to it. Revan purchased the droid because of his knowledge of Sand People dialect so that he could negotiate with the local chieftain. Despite his lack of memory, HK's personality remained, as he voted that Revan should just kill the Sand People and be done with it. Revan opted for a more peaceful method, and succeeded in gaining the Sand People's trust as well as a map to where the Star Map was.
Over his time with Revan, HK revealed as much of his past as he could remember, yet despite being appalled by HK's lust for killing and the fact that all of his previous owners had ended up dead, he continued to make multiple repairs to the droid, though he could not repair HK's memory core, as it was far too delicate to tamper with.
Later, Revan and party confronted Malak for the first time since the former apprentice betrayed him, and the encounter was enough to trigger Revan's memory. It also served as a signal for HK-47's internal programming to unlock and repair the damage on his memory core on its own, re-enabling the droid's memory as well as his entire combat and assassination protocol package. Though HK was upset that Revan's trials thus far had made him more compassionate, he was even more frustrated by not being able to defend his master in his time of need.
HK-47 remained with Revan until the very end, assisting in the destruction of Star Forge as well as Darth Malak. For his deeds, he was honored by the Republic and received the Cross of Glory, along with Revan and their other companions. Unfortunately, his time with Revan ended shortly thereafter, as Revan left to confront a threat he had discovered while he was a Sith Lord, and he left HK-47, T3-M4, and the starship Ebon Hawk in the care of his former teacher, Kreia, though not before wiping HK's memory, so that the droid would not be able to follow him or tell others where he had gone.
In the five years that had passed, HK-47 was damaged and dismantled almost entirely beyond repair. Eventually, he was discovered by the Jedi Exile when she came into possession of the Ebon Hawk. Using parts she scavenged from the new HK-50s and a junk dealer on Nar Shaddaa, she was able to repair and reactivate the droid. Upon learning that some "cheap imitations" of himself were running around the galaxy, HK-47 became furious and agreed to accompany the Exile so that he may learn of the plant they were being manufactured at and eliminate them personally.
Because of the extensive damage, HK could not remember how he or the ship had come to be in the state it was in, nor could he remember what of his time with Revan that was not erased intentionally. Though the Exile also performed various repairs on him, this changed very little as Revan was not around to activate his internal programming. His assassination protocols were also damaged, and that plus his irritation toward the newer model droids made him much more violent. He made it a point to investigate the Ebon Hawk, but upon discovering that the navicomputer was locked (making it impossible to tell where the ship had been), he was ambushed by T3-M4, who erased his memory of the issue.
HK did not accompany the Jedi Exile to the end of the line at the Sith Temple on the ruins of Malachor V, though he did follow her to the planet. Instead, after the battle at Telos IV, he discovered the location of the HK-50 manufacturing plant. Here, he persuaded the new line of droids to join him against their master, who turned out to be G0-T0, a droid crime lord that had forced his way into the Exile's party. While the group was separated after crashing on Malachor V, the Exile had ordered them to destroy the planet, an order G0-T0 attempted to thwart as he viewed the Sith artifacts on the planet to be far too valuable. HK-47 and the HK-50s were more than happy to let the droid crime lord know that he was not succeeding in circumventing the Exile's plan by blasting him into shrapnel. This allowed a small remote assistant to complete the Exile's request and set up the superweapon that destroyed the planet.
Though what happened in the time that the Exile defeated Darth Traya and the Ebon Hawk soared away from the exploding planet, as well as what happened afterwards, is unknown, it is safe to assume that HK-47 survived the blast and whatever happened thereafter, as his artificial intelligence eventually ends up on Mustafar sometime before Darth Vader came to be, as revealed in Star Wars: Galaxies.
Note: After a little more research, I have seen that there is a discrepancy on what type of droids HK brings into his service against G0-T0. Because this happens in content that was cut before the game was released, I won't know for certain if it was the HK-50s or HK-51s until I am able to install and play the Restored Content Edition on a PC.
Point in Canon: Post KotOR II, after the Jedi Exile flies off to who knows where.
Character Personality: At first glance, HK-47 appears to be a mild mannered protocol droid, and while heavily rusted, he seems to have all the gentlemanliness you expect from that type of robot.
And then he speaks.
To be blunt, HK-47 is batshit insane, and that's being nice about it. He derives great pleasure from watching others be killed, though more so when he actually does the deed himself. Oh, and HK does kill. A LOT. He talks of killing people like people normally discuss the weather, and nothing makes him happier than to be able to go loose and cause as much death, destruction, and mayhem as he wishes. The only organics that he actually shows respect to, and actually tries not to kill are his masters, though that doesn't mean he has to like it, and somehow they usually end up dead anyway.
His manner of speech comes off odd at first. He prefixes everything he has to say with a word that describes the sentence about to be spoken, such as "Statement", "Query", and "Conclusion". He has a great distain for all organics, and was actually programmed by Revan to refer to them as "meatbags" after hearing HK's response to Malak when the Sith apprentice asked the droid what he thought of him. He is also very prideful, boasting to the Jedi Exile that he was a unique individual (though he was based on a previous Hunter-Killer droid model), and he considers himself above all droids and organics. The exception of course is his creator, Revan, though mostly because of the "creative atrocities" he committed as a Sith Lord.
HK-47 also has a very skewed perception of life and most everything it entails. For example, when Revan seems depressed, HK's method of cheering him up was to offer to go kill something. This was only made worse (or perhaps better depending on your viewpoint) when the Jedi Exile (briefly) installed a Pacifist Protocol Package, making HK a kind and loving droid for the short time that it was installed. In the end, however, it led HK to a deeper understanding of why organics choose peace over war... though HK was appalled by the behavior that he exhibited while under the influence of the package and was adamant about such a program package never being installed again.
Character Plans: HK is essentially a hired gun; need NPC Joe dead? HK will want to know if you want him to bring back the entrails. And he doesn't charge. In short, both companies will love him. The only issue is he's dependant on whomever will be his master, though considering the number of crazies in SP, that shouldn't be too much of a problem. To compensate for any possible downtime between masters, HK would be able to communicate via the NV, even if he was shutdown.
Appearance/PB: See icons.
Writing Samples
First Person Sample
Observation: I have been taken out from my fragment of reality, pulled away from my very important business, and transferred to this reality by unknown means. Conclusion: A meatbag must die for this.
Statement: Regardless, I find myself in need of a master as long as I am on this rock. If there is anyone out there that requires basic protocol and translation, I am fluent in several worlds worth of verbal and cultural translation. Disclosure: Should your needs be more... practical, I am also effective as a combat droid... if you meatbags can understand the need for one.
Third Person Sample
HK-47 stood relatively silent beside his current master, the only sound coming from him the whine of servos as his triangular head swiveled back and forth between the two couriers that had come to call. The one with much more wobbly, disgusting flesh than any meatbag had any right to have was from AGI, and constantly referred to him as "the thing" and waved his slimy, Hutt-like hands at him. By contrast, the one from SERO was pencil thin, and at least had the decency to refer to him by his designation, though still gestured at him as if he were just an object that was unable to comprehend their bantering. They were arguing about which one of them would receive his services of course, his master trying to patiently listen to all the arguing about who was the better company to work for, but the droid could tell that even he was getting frustrated. HK leaned close then, his voice dropped down to something like a whisper.
"Resigned Query: Master, how much longer must we listen to this?" he asked. "Advisory: You know very well I could just kill them both, accomplish both jobs, and collect both profits for you, master."
His master paused a moment, seriously considering the offer, before he glanced at HK-47 out of the corner of his eye, giving him a barely perceptible nod. Were HK a disgusting meatbag (perish the thought) with mucus covered lips, they probably would have spread out into a gleeful grin as he raised his rifle. That was the only warning the two men had before he blasted both of the meatbags point blank, taking in the blood and organs spraying all over the pavement with an almost blissful sigh.
Name: Skyla Doragono
Age: 26
AIM SN: AschLappyOfRAWR
email: skyladoragono at gmail dot com
Have you played in an LJ based game before? yes
Currently Played Characters: Szayel Aporro Granz | Bleach | omnomspecimens/omnomfornicaras
Character Information
General
Canon Source: Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic I\II
Canon Format: Game (with supplementary information from guide books and comic books; also, this is assuming that in canon, Revan was male and chose the Light Side in the end, and the Jedi Exile was a female and also chose to follow the light.)
Character's Name: HK-47
Character's Age: 9 years old
Conditional: If your character is 13 years of age or under, please clarify how they will be played. He's a droid. That kills things. Age isn't an issue.
What form will your character's NV take? It will be an add-on to his hardware and internal programming; the only indication that he has one will be a small knob on the side of his head that says "Siren's Port NV". Of course, because of this set up, him being able to display videos of himself will be impossible, though he can display video of what he sees through his optical sensors. Also, because poor HK has the worst luck when it comes to people tinkering with his hardware -- not to mention his internal programming -- he'll probably have compatibility issues until some stupid nice meatbag fixes it for him.
Abilities
Character's Canon Abilities: HK-47 is programmed as an assassin; in an effort to prevent massive slaughter, his creator deemed a single operative able to get in, kill the ones that mattered, and get out was necessary. HK does exactly that, and he loves it. The only thing keeping his trigger finger from never leaving his gun is the very important fact that he cannot kill unless expressly ordered to by his current master. Due to his outward appearance, most of his previous owners have mistakenly assumed he was a protocol droid. HK does not go out of his way to correct them, because he really does have some protocol capability that would be expected from such a unit, but due to his mannerisms, it's not hard to figure out he's something else.
Weapons: Aratech sniper rifle, standard issue Republic blaster.
History/Personality/Plans/etc.
Character History: HK-47 first came into being almost four thousand years before the destruction of the first Death Star, after the final battle of the Mandalorian Wars. The Republic was desperate for an end to the war, and that end finally came when the entire surface of Malachor V was completely devastated. Not long after, the Jedi commander in charge of the Republic's operations in the war turned to the Dark Side, coming to the conclusion that the Republic needed to be conquered. In order to prevent the same devastation that obliterated Malachor V, now Sith Lord Revan decided that a single unit set to assassinate political opponents was a much more efficient way of dealing with his foes.
Thus HK-47, based on the old HK-24 design, was born.
HK served Revan through the Jedi Civil War, the conflict between Revan's Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic, and also assisted in locating the Star Forge superweapon, in addition to the assassinations he was created for. These assassinations led to a mission in Mandalorian space, during which time Revan's apprentice Malak turned on him and Revan was captured by the Jedi. HK, meanwhile, succeeded in his mission, but was badly damaged in the process, losing most of his memory. He came into the hands of a Mandalorian soldier, who reprogrammed him and repaired him (though he did a poor job of it), and then proceeded to use HK-47 to eliminate his superiors so that he could be cleared up for a promotion. When the Mandalorian made the mistake of sending HK after the reigning Mandalore, the droid was captured and reprogrammed to terminate his master. Because HK was programmed to shut down once his master was eliminated, as soon as the Mandalorian was killed, he shut off.
HK was sold shortly after to Bochaba the Hutt, whom he assisted in maintaining the Hutt's reputation as the most feared gangster on Sleheyron by slaying 322 targets in one year before the Hutt was assassinated by his rivals. Once again, HK shut down upon learning of his master's death, and he eventually found his way to a senator on Coruscant. Initially, the senator believed him to be a protocol droid, though when his assassination functions were discovered, the senator decided to use HK to eliminate his rivals. It was not long before the senator would be elected as Supreme Chancellor, but before that could happen, he ordered HK to eliminate his wife and her lover. It wasn't until HK was about to kill them that he regretted the order, and jumped between the droid and the two lovers, resulting in his death. Once again, HK-47 found himself shutting down, and was then sold by the senator's wife to a tech at Systech Corporation, and once again, HK was mistaken for a protocol droid. After the tech discovered the droid's assassination protocols, he sent HK after the workers of a competitor company... that turned out to be another branch of the Systech Corporation. By the time the technician realized his mistake, HK-47 had already killed 104 employees. HK assumed that his new master would be promoted, but instead the tech attacked the droid; he pierced one of the droid's actuators with a writing utensil, electrocuting himself and sending an electric shock through HK that destroyed his assassination protocols.
And again, HK shut down.
Eventually, HK-47 found himself sold to Yuka Laka, an Ithorian droid dealer at Anchorhead settlement on Tatooine, where he was also fitted with a restraining bolt that damaged him further. There, HK was reunited with his old master Revan, whose memory had been erased by the Dantooine Jedi Enclave Council. Once again, Revan was trying to find Star Forge by hunting down the Star Map that would lead to it. Revan purchased the droid because of his knowledge of Sand People dialect so that he could negotiate with the local chieftain. Despite his lack of memory, HK's personality remained, as he voted that Revan should just kill the Sand People and be done with it. Revan opted for a more peaceful method, and succeeded in gaining the Sand People's trust as well as a map to where the Star Map was.
Over his time with Revan, HK revealed as much of his past as he could remember, yet despite being appalled by HK's lust for killing and the fact that all of his previous owners had ended up dead, he continued to make multiple repairs to the droid, though he could not repair HK's memory core, as it was far too delicate to tamper with.
Later, Revan and party confronted Malak for the first time since the former apprentice betrayed him, and the encounter was enough to trigger Revan's memory. It also served as a signal for HK-47's internal programming to unlock and repair the damage on his memory core on its own, re-enabling the droid's memory as well as his entire combat and assassination protocol package. Though HK was upset that Revan's trials thus far had made him more compassionate, he was even more frustrated by not being able to defend his master in his time of need.
HK-47 remained with Revan until the very end, assisting in the destruction of Star Forge as well as Darth Malak. For his deeds, he was honored by the Republic and received the Cross of Glory, along with Revan and their other companions. Unfortunately, his time with Revan ended shortly thereafter, as Revan left to confront a threat he had discovered while he was a Sith Lord, and he left HK-47, T3-M4, and the starship Ebon Hawk in the care of his former teacher, Kreia, though not before wiping HK's memory, so that the droid would not be able to follow him or tell others where he had gone.
In the five years that had passed, HK-47 was damaged and dismantled almost entirely beyond repair. Eventually, he was discovered by the Jedi Exile when she came into possession of the Ebon Hawk. Using parts she scavenged from the new HK-50s and a junk dealer on Nar Shaddaa, she was able to repair and reactivate the droid. Upon learning that some "cheap imitations" of himself were running around the galaxy, HK-47 became furious and agreed to accompany the Exile so that he may learn of the plant they were being manufactured at and eliminate them personally.
Because of the extensive damage, HK could not remember how he or the ship had come to be in the state it was in, nor could he remember what of his time with Revan that was not erased intentionally. Though the Exile also performed various repairs on him, this changed very little as Revan was not around to activate his internal programming. His assassination protocols were also damaged, and that plus his irritation toward the newer model droids made him much more violent. He made it a point to investigate the Ebon Hawk, but upon discovering that the navicomputer was locked (making it impossible to tell where the ship had been), he was ambushed by T3-M4, who erased his memory of the issue.
HK did not accompany the Jedi Exile to the end of the line at the Sith Temple on the ruins of Malachor V, though he did follow her to the planet. Instead, after the battle at Telos IV, he discovered the location of the HK-50 manufacturing plant. Here, he persuaded the new line of droids to join him against their master, who turned out to be G0-T0, a droid crime lord that had forced his way into the Exile's party. While the group was separated after crashing on Malachor V, the Exile had ordered them to destroy the planet, an order G0-T0 attempted to thwart as he viewed the Sith artifacts on the planet to be far too valuable. HK-47 and the HK-50s were more than happy to let the droid crime lord know that he was not succeeding in circumventing the Exile's plan by blasting him into shrapnel. This allowed a small remote assistant to complete the Exile's request and set up the superweapon that destroyed the planet.
Though what happened in the time that the Exile defeated Darth Traya and the Ebon Hawk soared away from the exploding planet, as well as what happened afterwards, is unknown, it is safe to assume that HK-47 survived the blast and whatever happened thereafter, as his artificial intelligence eventually ends up on Mustafar sometime before Darth Vader came to be, as revealed in Star Wars: Galaxies.
Note: After a little more research, I have seen that there is a discrepancy on what type of droids HK brings into his service against G0-T0. Because this happens in content that was cut before the game was released, I won't know for certain if it was the HK-50s or HK-51s until I am able to install and play the Restored Content Edition on a PC.
Point in Canon: Post KotOR II, after the Jedi Exile flies off to who knows where.
Character Personality: At first glance, HK-47 appears to be a mild mannered protocol droid, and while heavily rusted, he seems to have all the gentlemanliness you expect from that type of robot.
And then he speaks.
To be blunt, HK-47 is batshit insane, and that's being nice about it. He derives great pleasure from watching others be killed, though more so when he actually does the deed himself. Oh, and HK does kill. A LOT. He talks of killing people like people normally discuss the weather, and nothing makes him happier than to be able to go loose and cause as much death, destruction, and mayhem as he wishes. The only organics that he actually shows respect to, and actually tries not to kill are his masters, though that doesn't mean he has to like it, and somehow they usually end up dead anyway.
His manner of speech comes off odd at first. He prefixes everything he has to say with a word that describes the sentence about to be spoken, such as "Statement", "Query", and "Conclusion". He has a great distain for all organics, and was actually programmed by Revan to refer to them as "meatbags" after hearing HK's response to Malak when the Sith apprentice asked the droid what he thought of him. He is also very prideful, boasting to the Jedi Exile that he was a unique individual (though he was based on a previous Hunter-Killer droid model), and he considers himself above all droids and organics. The exception of course is his creator, Revan, though mostly because of the "creative atrocities" he committed as a Sith Lord.
HK-47 also has a very skewed perception of life and most everything it entails. For example, when Revan seems depressed, HK's method of cheering him up was to offer to go kill something. This was only made worse (or perhaps better depending on your viewpoint) when the Jedi Exile (briefly) installed a Pacifist Protocol Package, making HK a kind and loving droid for the short time that it was installed. In the end, however, it led HK to a deeper understanding of why organics choose peace over war... though HK was appalled by the behavior that he exhibited while under the influence of the package and was adamant about such a program package never being installed again.
Character Plans: HK is essentially a hired gun; need NPC Joe dead? HK will want to know if you want him to bring back the entrails. And he doesn't charge. In short, both companies will love him. The only issue is he's dependant on whomever will be his master, though considering the number of crazies in SP, that shouldn't be too much of a problem. To compensate for any possible downtime between masters, HK would be able to communicate via the NV, even if he was shutdown.
Appearance/PB: See icons.
Writing Samples
First Person Sample
Observation: I have been taken out from my fragment of reality, pulled away from my very important business, and transferred to this reality by unknown means. Conclusion: A meatbag must die for this.
Statement: Regardless, I find myself in need of a master as long as I am on this rock. If there is anyone out there that requires basic protocol and translation, I am fluent in several worlds worth of verbal and cultural translation. Disclosure: Should your needs be more... practical, I am also effective as a combat droid... if you meatbags can understand the need for one.
Third Person Sample
HK-47 stood relatively silent beside his current master, the only sound coming from him the whine of servos as his triangular head swiveled back and forth between the two couriers that had come to call. The one with much more wobbly, disgusting flesh than any meatbag had any right to have was from AGI, and constantly referred to him as "the thing" and waved his slimy, Hutt-like hands at him. By contrast, the one from SERO was pencil thin, and at least had the decency to refer to him by his designation, though still gestured at him as if he were just an object that was unable to comprehend their bantering. They were arguing about which one of them would receive his services of course, his master trying to patiently listen to all the arguing about who was the better company to work for, but the droid could tell that even he was getting frustrated. HK leaned close then, his voice dropped down to something like a whisper.
"Resigned Query: Master, how much longer must we listen to this?" he asked. "Advisory: You know very well I could just kill them both, accomplish both jobs, and collect both profits for you, master."
His master paused a moment, seriously considering the offer, before he glanced at HK-47 out of the corner of his eye, giving him a barely perceptible nod. Were HK a disgusting meatbag (perish the thought) with mucus covered lips, they probably would have spread out into a gleeful grin as he raised his rifle. That was the only warning the two men had before he blasted both of the meatbags point blank, taking in the blood and organs spraying all over the pavement with an almost blissful sigh.