Noventa - A Star Wars Story

"Cargo load here, quarters there. Do you want caf, Vizsla?"

Sharn was playing smug ever since they had met at the ramp but there seemed to be some burden on him, one that drew shades around his eyes. They were now crossing the vast cargo space of the Wayfarer.

"Caf sound great, thanks," she agreed with a nod. She didn't miss whatever what affecting him, despite his usual demeanor. "Hey, you okay?"

Someone else could have replied with a polite yet false 'not at all', thank you for asking' but it was not Sharn. By far. "My mood and condition are indeed compromised by various nuisances I have encountered today. Smallness of mind and imagination are appallingly common. Those shall be overcome, however, by sharp and disciplined thought. We'll discuss some of the problems after getting caf, at least those that are yours as well."

They entered the common room past the engines, and Sharn headed toward the caf machine.

"Blue milk to it?"

"Please. Milk and sugar," she agreed with a nod.

"No sugar available. My colleague Farkas usually bings sweet snacks to caf though. Yesterday it were largarfruit. There should be some left. I can look forward if it's something that could remedy the lack of saccharine carb for you. They're quite alkaloidal too though, so with caf it'd be quite the boost." He got the machine trickling the brew into a cup.

"That's probably fine," she agreed. "I admit, I have a bit of a sweet tooth... Though I do crave meat as well often."

"It may be because of your carnivore genetic background. Your ancestors may have been apex predators." He mused, not telling where his revelations would be coming from. He put the caf before her on the table, then set the other on and started to look into compartments for fruit.

"Mom was the same, so probably," she agreed.

"While I am a nutrivore. I eat what empowers my body most based on current performance and environmental needs and challenges."

He found the fruit bowl and removed the pneumatic lid, then sat before her with that and caf.

"I assess stimulants are a sound choice for what you and I are about to do soon enough. If you are having a craving for a slab of meat now, however, this can be arranged." He was speaking in casual non-suggestive manner.

The non-suggestive tone didn't stop her from giggling at the phrasing. "No thanks... not right now, anyway. Isn't basically everyone a nutrivore by that definition?"

"Those careful enough to know what they eat and how it affects them, certainly. I am just superior in this regard as I conduct my consumption of nutrients with scientific accuracy." He smirked before returning to deadpan, apparently pleased with her burst of mirth. "This is something we can delay. However..." A sip of caf. "...other issues may me a bit more imminent to broach."

"Okay," she replied curiously. "Go on..."

"We did something interesting yesterday." He paused. "If I am not suddenly schizophrenic, taking of the tome has triggered a slow release of some Force-powerful entity entrapped somehow by Je'daii millenia ago, as it claims itself by giving me nightmares and talking in my head. If I read the dynamics right, it shall slowly acquire coroprality. There seems to be a number of spots on Noventa which are tied to his entrapment. The creature asked me to meet it in one of them after much back and forth. It's devious, arrogant and seductive, but can be reasoned with as it apparently needs assistance with further release."

He chuckled. "Now that I have said it, plain schizophrenia or chemically-induced delusions seem like more plausible hypotheses."

"Well, we've already accepted that tiny trans-dimensional entities can potentially let us control minds and lift rocks. This isn't exactly wholly out of the realm of the believable," she pointed out with a smile. "Schizophrenia is possible, and shouldn't be written off, but there are multiple warning signs we can go over to assess whether the lead up to a psychotic break existed. Such things don't happen in a vacuum."

"You might also want to have me look after the book tonight to see if the same thing happens."

"I wasn't serious about it. I trust my brain. This is what has occured, the question is why and how. If you want to take the book with you, I won't stop you, though if the voice starts to plague you because of it, you may find it hard to handle.That, and I haven't deciphered the script yet."

He raised a brow. "What do you make of it? Anything clicks?"

"You're pretty deadpan, it's hard to tell," she replied with a shrug. "I haven't really had any more thoughts than before without anything extra else to go on."

He tsk'ed. "Okay, I'll indulge you, as we seem to be in it together. We'll go point by point..." And he relayed his morning conversation with the entity, showcasing eidetic memory.

She listened with interest, looking serious and thoughtful.

"Sounds like he had a accent from the Core Worlds. I don't know too much about Jedi history, but that's probably an older term for them. But then the fact that what we found is an actual book on paper says as much. If that map doesn't match up to current topography, the landscape may have changed considerably. If the Force is keeping this being trapped, the area might have been unusually preserved - that's one theory. "

She frowned a little and leaned back, taking a long sip of the kaff. "Then there's the stuff about me. Well, I'm not sure it's all he's cracking it up to be, but he might have information through his own filter."

"The ways he - let's assume it's a he - sees the Force, you, me, are certainly outdated and skewed by long isolation, not to mention unscientific. At the same time he's trying to play us. It clearly has become more than just kyber hunt now. How ready are you to do his bidding in order to get to the bottom of this?" He paused. "And Jeda'ii may be Jedi predecessors, but it makes them really old. So he might be from the galaxy before, well, everything."

Sharn blew some vapour from his caf, then took a hot sip.

"The book is probably a transmitter for him. If you want to test things yourself, collect it from my room on your way out."

"Possibly... Well, whether it's a matter of doing his bidding will depend on whether it's the best course for what we want to accomplish," she replied. "And the other possibilities we come up with for that. So... I guess the question is, what do we want to accomplish? What is the goal with this change in circumstances?"