Master Lasah’s glare of disapproval is something you’ll never want to see again. You arrive late — very late — and she says nothing; only stares at you with disappointment.
How’s that even possible? She doesn’t even have eyes!
You shuffle awkwardly under her thunderous gaze until she sees fit to give you a task, generously allowing you to join Cho’an in the day’s studies. Strangely, she doesn’t press you for an explanation about why you’re late, nor questions you about your telepathy.
Why?
“Why, what?”
You turn toward her in surprise. Did you ask that out loud? According to the quizzical look Cho’an is giving her, apparently not.
“Ah, sorry Master. It’s nothing.”
She’s silent for a moment, then leans in and quietly says, “Stay afterwards for a minute. I would like some explanation.”
“Yes, Master.”
The rest of the lesson goes… less well than you’d hoped. You do your best to concentrate, but a throbbing headache continuously distracts you. Every loud sound, whether it be in reality or in the mindspace of someone nearby, causes you to cringe in pain. For the next quarter-hour, you try to power your way through, hiding your winces of pain behind your mask. Of course, since Master Lasah’s “vision” isn’t restricted by something so mundane as opaque matter, she quickly catches your less than stoic face and pulls you aside much earlier than expected.
“What is wrong?”
“I, uh, tried reaching too far,” you stammer out. “There’s just… too much noise out there — too many minds! I extended my range of hearing, but I didn’t realize just how bad it could be. I blacked out, and now it hurts.”
Your disjointed answer is fairly useless, but fortunately she seems to catch the gist of it. She speaks quietly, wary of exacerbating your headache, then sends you off to bed with Cho’an as an escort. Along the way, you talk to Cho’an, telling her of your newfound ability as part of an explanation for why you’ve got such a terrible migraine. Of course, like Tera, her excitement is immediately obvious. Unlike Tera, however, she continues to think in the present, keeping her celebrations short and quiet with a word of congratulations and a pat on the back. While this does still send a spike of pain shooting through your head, you’re thankful it’s not more than that. Back at your room, you collapse into your bed, and you’re asleep only moments later.
≡][≡ ⬦⬦⬦ ≡][≡
“Hi, Master Nu!”
“Oh, hello Xena. Back again?”
Today seems to be a relatively normal day in the Archives. A few people hustle through the aisles, searching quickly for material. Others are more lackadaisical, taking their time and browsing for something to catch their interest. You’re here not for material, nor for your lesson. Right now, you have something special in mind.
You’ve spent most of the day speaking with your friends and all those that you contacted with your telepathy, including Master Nu. Every single one of them was happy for you, though you did sense burning embers of envy settling in the guts of a couple of your friends. It’s a shame to see such a thing, but you can’t fully fault them. You’ve been… special. Special treatment, special abilities. It would be more strange if nobody were envious.
Masters Corr, Lasah, and Nu each had their own opinions to offer, but most led to words of caution. Namely, “be more careful.” Master Corr spent some time examining you, checking if your foray of folly yesterday left lasting damage, but ultimately concluded in a negative. That’s a positive sign for your health, though! Master Lasah wasn’t any more helpful, having never met any telepathic beings before, not even those with Force-granted telepathy. You have a hard time grasping that, as it seems odd that someone versed in something so rare like Battle Meditation hasn’t also come across telepathy before. And yet, perhaps it is not so hard to believe.
How many sentients, sapients, sophonts, in this Galaxy exist? Many, but also not truly many. The Galaxy is vast, but also very very empty. There are many chances for life to exist, but that in itself is still rare. How many of these lifeforms end up with a capacity of thought? Not many. How many of these can communicate amongst themselves and with other sentients? Fewer even.
And then, how many of those remaining can communicate via telepathy? Almost none.
It’s an extraordinarily rare ability to have.
You’re incredibly lucky; not just in having the ability, but also in how adept you already are in it. In your discussion with her earlier this morning, you described how it feels to use it and what you can do with it. Over her long tenure in the Jedi Temple, she has come across the use of Force telepathy a few times, but none of the users were able to communicate as efficiently as you. You easily transmit voice and words to others, even doing so subconsciously. You’re able to send and read sensations, whereas most users must draw heavily on the Force to let them transmit simple concepts.
More advanced users of telepathy can use it to extract thoughts from others — highly useful for interrogation. Even so, it can be highly challenging for the user. It can even be fought off if the victim is strong of mind.
You? You’ve got it easy, comparatively. Within short ranges, you’re able to communicate effortlessly, so long as you prevent the invasion of too much extraneous thought from messy-minded neighbors. The only issue you’ve encountered is the wall of mental noise lying outside the Temple grounds, but it may be possible to avoid the worst of that by keeping your range of “hearing” small. It was only when you opened your mind too much at once that you had problems.
You’re visiting Master Nu again for something different, though — something not entirely related to playing with your telepathy. You’ve got a goal, or rather, a destination. You’re finally going to revisit the ship, The Golden Doctrine.
That’s what you think it’s called. It’s been a while, so you may be wrong. You’re here to ask Master Nu for some help, as all those words of caution are still ringing in your ears. You’re here for supervision. You won’t be sitting alone in a dark room this time.
“Can you help me with something?”
“Of course! What do you need?”
“I’m going to be… meditating. I want to look inside myself again, and I want someone to watch me in case anything goes wrong.”
“Oh… I’m not sure if I can really help you in that case. There’s not much I can do.”
“That’s not true! You can use Cleanse on me if anything goes wrong. That would probably fix me up. I also asked Master Corr, but she was busy. Master Lasah’s not in the Temple right now, so I couldn’t ask her. And, you’re a better choice than Master Binaj since you know Cleanse. I know you and I trust you.”
She appears to be rather shocked at your candidness, but seems a bit flattered. Settling down, she smiles and nods.
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“Well, if you really think an old lady like me really can do something, then perhaps I will. You said you’ll be meditating? You’ll have to do it out here, though. I need to stay around here for a while.”
“That’s fine. It’s the Archives! It’s supposed to be quiet here.”
“Ha! True enough. Well then, you can sit over there—” she points at a chair tucked in behind her desk, “—just let me know if you need anything. Otherwise, I’ll be sure to check in on you from time to time.”
“Thank you!”
≡][≡ ⬦⬦⬦ ≡][≡
This ship is as you left it, looming quietly in the dark. Its golder luster still remains, but with a fog of warp-stuff shrouding it, it’s difficult to behold its true majesty.
You look down at your arm, the shadow still writhing beneath the surface. Why’s it there when you know it can escape into the rest of your true-self? You don’t know.
“Hey, no eating any memories I come across. Let me check it first, okay?” you say to it. It doesn’t respond — merely pausing in its movements before aimlessly swimming again — but you imagine it giving you two thumbs up in acknowledgment.
“Good boy. Or girl. I dunno.” You pat your arm a couple times, then stop as it feels rather silly. What is this thing anyways? You stare hard at it, using all available senses to check it out.
Nothing. Nada. Looking at your arm in realspace, outside of your mind, reveals nothing but an impenetrable vessel, opaque to even your warp-sight. All you know is that it’s made of warp-stuff. With your Force Sight and Force-sense, you also get nothing, merely the impression that it’s faking at being a real arm. Nothing useful. Nothing about the creature within.
Here, in your mind, when you look at the representation of your arm, it’s slightly different. Your whole avatar is made of warp-stuff, both visible and transparent to your warp-sight. And yet, the same issue arises with the creature within: it’s obscured.
“Hey, can you come out? I want to take a look at you.”
For a few seconds, you’re convinced it’s ignoring you as it continues to lazily glide its way beneath your skin. But then, when it flows out of sight around to the back of your arm, it doesn’t reappear. You turn your arm about, searching for the thing, but it’s gone.
And then it’s back, popping into being at the edge of your peripheral vision.
“Ahh! You… You…” you stammer out, unable to find the right words to make your annoyance known.
It hovers next to you, making no noise. Formless fronds wave about in the currents of warp, making it impossible to gauge the creature’s true shape. It has no eyes, and yet it sees you. It has no ears, and yet it hears you. It’s…
How can this thing be alive? There is no Force within it! The fundamental aspect to any lifeform, missing!
It’s almost like… your mirror-self? A pale reflection — an illusion — and yet this thing has function. It stares at you, waiting, but waiting for what?
Perhaps, a command?
“Um, go there,” you say, pointing to your left.
It ignores you.
“There?” You point right with both hands, just in case.
No response, and no movement besides the fluttering of its hazy edges. Well, you didn’t really expect too much from that. You move closer to inspect the thing, but you see nothing more than a cold shadow — an absence of light, life, and Force. With a sigh, you turn away. It gives away no secrets now, but perhaps you’ll convince it in the future. You’ll have to keep an eye — your one remaining eye — on it until then, then maybe even more afterwards.
Now, back to the ship. Where to start, though? You’ve covered the same area twice already, so going back a third time isn’t likely to be very helpful. What’s the next step to take?
Just as you’re about to move, ready to do another survey of your possible options, you’re startled by sudden movement in your periphery. You duck, protecting your head as best you can with your arms, but you feel no impact. You peek out between your arms and watch as the shadow lurches ungainly toward the ship, as if pulled by an unseen rope.
It flies further and further into the distance, pulled along the length of the ship from bow to stern. You follow it, but keep your distance, staying as far back as you can while still keeping it within sight. Towards the rear of the ship where the cathedral-like structure rises higher and higher, the shadow slams into the hull. You wince in sympathy of its plight, but it’s not over yet.
Slowly, the shadow diffuses through the bulkhead. Fortunately, your senses are not limited by things like solid objects, so you’re able to track it as it continues to travel through the ship beyond sight. Now, within the ship itself, it seems to have regained more control over itself. It navigates the corridors, traveling with purpose, seemingly seeking a goal.
Curious. How very curious…
Is this something you should stop? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Your caution, reinforced by all your talks with your Masters, tells you to keep at a distance and watch. It’s much easier to escape when you’re already as far away as possible.
The shadow continues to move, following passageways when possible, phasing through walls when not. It doesn’t just travel further into the ship, but also upwards. It must be going somewhere — somewhere important.
Finally, it begins to slow as if reaching the end of its frenetic journey — and end its journey it does. There, high up in the ship, just above where you know the command deck lies, is a room. A very familiar room.
The shadow stops at the center of the room, a hint of melancholy somehow emanating from it. You watch it, wary for more movement, but you see none for the next few minutes. This is it. This is where it wanted to go.
But, is this where you want to go?
Yes.
Everything draws you to this point. Every part of you: mind, warp, and Force, urges you to GO. This is it; this is your destiny.
No! Not yet! Not just yet. You’re ever so curious, but you must exercise caution. With great effort, you close your eye and flare your mind, seeking a return to reality. You gasp, sucking a deep breath of air into your lungs; you’re back to awareness.
Master Nu stands, speaking quietly with a droid nearby. With a beep and a trill, the droid spins its head in acknowledgement of what she says, then rolls away, off to its next task. You look around and see nobody waiting for Master Nu’s attention, so you reach over and tap her on the arm.
“Yes? Ah, have you found what you were looking for?”
“Maybe. I’m looking at the ship again. I was looking at the ship again, and then the thing in my arm went and found something for me. I think it’s where I’m supposed to go, but I don’t know if it’s dangerous.”
“Sorry, what’s this ‘thing in your arm?’”
You pull up your sleeve, angling your arm to show her, but she just looks on in confusion.
“Your veins are glowing, Xena. Is this what you meant?”
“No! Look! Can’t you see the shadow?”
She leans closer, straining her aged eyes at your request. Even so, when she pulls away, she again shakes her head.
“I’m not seeing anything.”
“It’s… give me a second.”
You turn around, pulling your headband off as you do so, and examine your arm. It’s gone! The shadow is no longer there! Frowning, you replace your headband and turn back to Master Nu.
“You’re right. It’s not there anymore. It might be trapped in the ship. There’s a room in there that attracted it, and I’m not sure if I should go check it out or not. It — the room — feels familiar, but I don’t know why. It’s just… confusing. Can you help me?”
“Oh dear,” Master Nu exclaims. “I’m glad you chose to ask me for advice first, but I’m not sure what to say other than ‘be careful.’ I’m sorry, Xena. Do you believe this is a good idea? There seems to be an unknown risk and an unknown reward. Is this mystery worth investigating, or should you let it lie? Ah, I’m just giving you even more questions, but I do believe you should consider these before you make a decision.”
“Thank you, Master Nu. I’ll think about it.”
“I’ve done nothing deserving of thanks.”
You’re about to deny that — she did offer good advice! — but you’re interrupted by a chime from her desk.
“I’m sorry, Xena. It looks like someone’s calling for my attention. This light shows me when someone would like some assistance.” As she speaks, she taps at the desk, apparently on some sort of display. You can’t see it, but you can at least infer from what she says. “Hmm. Would you like to come with me? You can stretch your legs while you think about your little conundrum.”
That doesn’t sound too bad so you give a nod then hop out of your seat. This may be interesting. It may also not be, but like she said, this distraction will give you some time. You’ll need to think before you make a decision.