“This place gets smellier as we go down,” May pinched her nose shut. “These cats better be cute!”
“They ARE,” Etain pulled May by the hand. “There's a whole community, set up deep below the temple!”
“Alright,” May sighed and uncovered her nose, determined to go nose blind to the smell. “How long until we can get off this elevator?”
They’d descended for the last five minutes, without sign of a stop. They must be far below the temple by now…
“It will take a few more minutes,” Etain tilted her head, eyes squinted at the floor. “Then we switch to a different turbolift and go all the way down again.”
“That’s deep…” May muttered as the door scraped open. The hinges here were far less flawless than those connected to the temple proper.
“I guess, but it wont even take us into the undercity proper,” Etain tugged May along, through tunnels filled with dust. “To get there we’d have to take a bunch more lifts, maybe even climb down a duct!”
“That’s crazy,” May shook her head. “How can anyone live in a place without nature?”
The walls around them were a uniform grey. Function and utilitarian, but artless. Dank, heavy air assaulted her, filled with the stink of rot and unwashed bodies.
“It can be a bit dreary,” Etain shrugged. “But, you get used to it, and even here you can find life!”
“I guess…” May let Etain guide her onto another lift, where they descended deeper into the unnatural world.
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“Control the force, you cannot,” Yoda’s wrinkled head swiveled around the crowd. “Help you it can, flow through you. But to your will, you wish it to bend? Hmmmm, NO!” The Jedi Grandmaster tapped his cane. “The way of the dark side, that is!”
“But, Master Yoda,” A young girl stood, green skin bright in the sunlight. “If we don’t tell the force what to do, how can we make it pull or push?”
“Make it, you cannot,” Yoda smiled at the youngling. “Ask it, yesss! Listen it will, if your path follows the will of the force, hmmmm!”
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“I ask…” The girl's face scrunched into a mask of concern. “But it wont do what I want, no matter what!”
“Worry, you should not,” Yoda stepped closer, warm aura spread like a gentle rain. “ Practise you can, a great spirit, in YOU see I!”
“Me?” The girl’s eyes widened.
“Changing, the future is, before you, a great adventure waits,” Yoda nodded. “All you can, Do must you. Fail, you will not.”
The girl sat down, the children around her pressed close as they hummed with excitement. Dan smiled. A prediction from the grandmaster was something precious, Yoda was well known for his grasp on the future.
Though, he didn’t see much during the movies…
“Finished are we, to your class, return must you,” Yoda gestured to the older students. “Help the younglings, the Padawans will!”
The group began to disperse, while Yoda inched his way closer to Dan and Kast, his eyes on Merlyn. The peaceful aura that followed the Grandmaster eased his mind, an effect the ring on his finger ignored.
“Hmmm! Greetings,” Yoda squinted at Merlyn. “A master in the force are you, but a Jedi, you are not!”
“Indeed, I am a fellow student on the path of magic,” The Wizard nodded, respect in his gaze as his eyes glowed blue. “Your magic is the first in this galaxy to impress me, there is a well within you that seems bottomless.”
“A great storm, can I see in YOU,” Yoda frowned. “A narrow line, your magic is, hmmmm!”
“Narrow as a razor's edge,” Merlyn’s teeth flashed. “But stable as the tide!”
“Perhaps, but dangerous it is, yesss,” Yoda shook his head. “Interested am I, but cautious, always cautious.”
“Well, I’m willing to talk at length, if you are?” Merlyn tilted his hat back, eyes bright. “Many of my spells fall into what you would call the ‘light side’ of the force.”
“Many, hmmm… yet not all, say I,” Yoda chuckled. “Speak shall we, but greet the other one must I.”
Yoda’s sleepy gaze drifted to Dan, followed by a deep, heavy weight. It tickled at the back of his mind like a worm, the ring on his finger warm to the touch.
“Read you, I cannot…” Yoda lifted his ears. “Hidden are you, a blank in the plans of the force!”
“Yeah, I’m an enigma,” Dan rubbed the back of his head, the worm still pressed to his consciousness. “My name’s Dan-El, but my friends call me Dan.” He made a small bow, and the pressure vanished.
“Strange the force is, to be expected, such things are!” Yoda laughed as he turned back to Merlyn. “Come, come, talk in the archives we shall!”
Dan shivered as the small alien trundled away, Merlyn at his side. The Grandmaster held his title for a reason. Even the ring couldn’t shield him from everything, its band red hot on his middle finger.
Magic is just too OP…
“So, what now?” Dan turned to Master Kast.
“How about we find your wife and my wayward padawan, then we can visit the sights?” Kast laughed. “Master Yoda and Merlyn will probably be awhile…”
“Sounds good,” Dan changed gears. “Let’s find May, then we can grab dinner, I want to taste the local food, you recommend the place!”
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“Now, this is a world…”
Ultron glided, lazy on his back. The ship was safe with his drones, while he basked in the near endless data this planet possessed. Trillions of networks. Online, offline and secure, all of it was exposed before him, a meal ready to be consumed. It would take time, even for his advanced mind, to sift through it all.
“There you are…” A grin crept onto his mechanical face.
Nestled deep, within a registry of development, was a list of abandoned properties. Entire sections of the vast cityscape that had been left to rot, most of it far below the surface.
“Typical biologicals,” The A.I. snorted. “What a waste…”
He would burrow into the carcass of this half dead planet and replace it, bit by bit. A new Coruscant, one governed by his rules… and those of his most distasteful master.
“Now to begin,” Ultron spiraled down a desolate shaft, deep into the undercity’s core.