Chương 41: Bonus Story : Star Wars : Part 5 : The Audience

As the opening scenes gave way to the heart of the story, the theater sank into near-total darkness. Only the enormous screen continued to cast a faint glow across the audience's faces. Aldric's eyes never left the images before him. His entire attention was fixed on the war unfolding on the screen. He studied the movements of the troops, the decisions of the officers, and the exchanges between the various protagonists. Every scene seemed to reveal another piece of this immense conflict.

A faint rustle of paper sounded a few rows away. Someone had opened a bag of candy with only moderate success at being discreet. Aldric looked away from the screen. The man continued eating calmly without showing the slightest sign of embarrassment. A few moments later, a giant cup produced a particularly loud slurping sound. Someone had just finished their drink without leaving a single drop behind. Aldric turned his head again.

The moviegoer seemed to be watching the film with the same relaxed attitude as though he were listening to an ordinary conversation. Two teenagers seated behind them began quietly exchanging a few words. They laughed between lines of dialogue before falling mostly silent again. Farther away, an entire row continued reaching into their buckets of popcorn. The soft crunching of the popped kernels almost became part of the film's soundtrack. Aldric felt his confusion steadily growing. He glanced around several times.

The audience appeared completely relaxed. Some were eating. Others were drinking. A few simply shifted in their seats. No one seemed to regard the events unfolding on the screen with the seriousness they clearly deserved. In his own world, whenever a royal chronicler recounted a military campaign before the king, his generals, or his knights, no one would have dared make the slightest sound. Everyone remained perfectly still until the end of the account.

Interrupting a historian's testimony was considered a profound sign of disrespect toward those who had fought. Aldric continued observing the nearby rows before leaning toward Emma.

"They don't seem particularly concerned by these events."

"They're just watching a movie." That answer explained absolutely nothing. For hours now, Emma had insisted over and over that this was merely a film. Yet everything Aldric had seen pointed to the exact opposite. The archives were detailed, coherent, and meticulously presented. It was difficult to believe that a war this complex could have been entirely invented. His gaze returned to the audience. One man reached into his bucket of popcorn once again. A woman checked her phone before quickly putting it away.

Two children whispered to each other for a few seconds before their parents quietly reminded them to keep their voices down. Aldric remained deeply perplexed. The people of this kingdom seemed astonishingly relaxed while watching the account of a war that had probably claimed millions of lives. He finally turned his attention back to the screen. Without even realizing it, however, he had begun watching the audience almost as closely as the movie itself.

Their behavior fascinated him just as much as the events unfolding in that distant galaxy. The enormous Star Destroyer emerged from the top of the screen. Its shadow seemed endless as it relentlessly pursued the tiny Rebel ship desperately trying to escape.

"Excellent interception maneuver..." When the Tantive IV was finally caught, Aldric slowly nodded.

"The Rebels underestimated their enemy's speed." Emma gently nudged him with her elbow.

"A little quieter..."

"Understood." He did lower his voice, but he continued commenting on every military decision he found noteworthy. As the Stormtroopers boarded the ship, he carefully studied their advance before murmuring, "Proper formation..." A few seconds later he added, "They're securing the entrances immediately." Then, after following the soldiers through the corridors: "Excellent coordination." Emma let out a quiet sigh. At least he was now speaking softly enough that he was no longer disturbing the entire theater.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Then a towering black figure slowly emerged from the smoke. Darth Vader. Like everyone else in the audience, Aldric remained silent. He carefully studied the Imperial commander, observing his stride, his armor, his mechanical breathing, and the absolute authority he commanded over his own troops.

Without taking his eyes off the screen, he discreetly reopened his notebook and jotted down a few quick observations: Enemy commander identified. Tall stature. Heavy armor. Intimidating presence. Likely a veteran. Leia now appeared on the screen. Despite the Imperial assault, the young princess remained remarkably composed. She transmitted the plans, organized the resistance, and then confronted Darth Vader.

"Excellent discipline. Few prisoners withstand interrogation for so long." Emma nearly choked and had to cough before catching her breath. Aldric, meanwhile, continued his analysis. Several times, he found himself unconsciously comparing this galaxy to his own world. The weapons were different, as was the armor, and starships had replaced ships and dragons alike.

Yet beneath all those differences, he recognized the same patterns he had witnessed throughout his life: empires seeking to expand their dominion, rebellions refusing to submit, capable officers, courageous soldiers, and commanders forced to make impossible decisions. Little by little, a strange admiration grew within him. This civilization had not only endured a war of extraordinary scale, but had also preserved the record of those events with remarkable accuracy.

"Their technology is extraordinary, but their wars remain much like ours." Suddenly, a bright light appeared several rows ahead. A man had taken out his phone. The screen immediately illuminated several nearby seats. Aldric frowned. His first instinct was to assume it was some kind of military communication device. He watched the man, convinced he had just received an urgent report about the ongoing war. Yet after a few seconds, the man merely read a brief message before slipping the device back into his pocket.

Aldric let out a quiet sigh.

"In the middle of a strategic briefing..." Emma didn't even need to ask what he was thinking.

"Just let it go..." A few minutes later, another phone vibrated. This time, its owner answered in a hushed voice before standing up. He crossed the entire row, left the auditorium, and disappeared through the exit door. Aldric watched him until the door closed behind him.

"A deserter..." Emma had to bite her lip to keep from bursting into laughter.

"He's just answering a phone call."

"In the middle of the presentation?"

"It happens." In Aldric's world, leaving a war council without the commander's permission would have been considered an extremely serious offense. Here, no one even seemed surprised. A few scenes later, a little boy tugged on his father's sleeve.

"Dad... why is he doing that?" The father answered in a hushed voice. The boy asked a second question. His father explained once again what had just happened on the screen. Their conversation continued for a few more moments before they both turned their attention back to the movie. Aldric kept waiting. Naturally, he expected the father to remind his son to be quiet, insist on silence, or tell him to listen to the chronicler. Yet none of that happened. The two simply continued talking softly.

Genuine bewilderment settled over the hero. One thought forced its way into his mind: If my soldiers had behaved like this during a pre-battle briefing, they would have spent a month cleaning the camp latrines. The kingdoms were different. The weapons were different. Yet some rules had always seemed universal to him. When an officer spoke, people listened. When someone recounted a battle, people remained silent. Here, those principles seemed to hold no importance at all.

Meanwhile, Emma was paying less and less attention to the movie. Aldric's reactions had become almost as entertaining as Star Wars itself. She discreetly watched his face every time another moviegoer did something slightly unusual, waiting to see what conclusion he would draw. As though fate had decided to give her another example, a man seated in the middle of their row suddenly stood up.

"Excuse me..." Everyone calmly shifted to let him pass. Aldric immediately pulled his legs aside to make room and followed the stranger with his eyes until he disappeared through the exit. He remained thoughtful for several long minutes before the door opened again. The same man returned, crossed back along the row, apologized once more, sat down in exactly the same seat, and resumed watching the movie as though nothing had happened. The hero blinked several times.

He leaves the war council in the middle of the briefing... then returns as though nothing happened... He discreetly observed the rest of the audience. No one seemed annoyed. No one criticized the man in the slightest. They had all simply paused the screening for a few seconds before continuing exactly where they had left off. Such patience seemed almost unreal to him.

"Your assemblies are remarkably tolerant. In my kingdom, half this audience would already have been assigned several days of labor duty."

"Good thing you're not in charge of movie theaters."

"Indeed... they'd be much quieter." Emma had to turn her attention back to the screen to hide her smile.