Chương 3: An Ace That I Could Keep

64 BBY – 936 ARR – Coruscant In meditation, Zucul's eyeless gaze rested on the boy.

"Do you see the galaxy as I do?" asked Rann.

"Differently," said the Miraluka.

"Then who decides what is real?" Zucul was silent. ~*~*~*~ After morning meditation and another dreadful breakfast at the refectory, Master Zucul announced that today was a special day. There would be a guest lecturer here to help teach them one of the aspects of control, altus sopor. Theoretically, meditation was an act of altus sopor, or "deep sleep" in basic. It was a Jedi's ability to focus on the Force, one of the acts of Control, the first tenet of the Order.

In its most basic state, altus sopor strengthened every other endeavor in the Force, as one's connection was deepened. At higher levels, masters of altus sopor could make themselves essentially one with the Force for a time. All a very philosophical way to say that a being that can fall into the Force can essentially make themselves invisible, as something that is one with the Force can't be perceived as separate from the rest of reality.

It was better than invisibility, in fact, because by blurring the distinction between oneself and everything else, every sense was affected. Needless to say, Rann was very excited to learn about this art, even if most of the other younglings didn't seem all that interested. Not too surprising, as it was considered one of the more difficult Force abilities to master, and dangerous as well. Deepening one's connection to the Force to such a degree could result in losing one's sense of being.

Master Zucul led them to an empty classroom and told them to be on their best behavior because he was watching before leaving. Rann and Mace took their seats on the front row. Everyone took his words literally and stayed put. Master Zucul's ability to sniff out Crèche mischief was legendary, and it was rumored that his natural Miraluka Force Sight had been honed to such a degree, he could see across the entire temple.

Rann wasn't sure if he believed that, but he did know that any time he was upset, Master Zucul was there within minutes. But after fifteen minutes of waiting, not even Master Zucul's warnings could keep them from getting antsy.

"What's taking so long," whispered some Initiate whose name he had never bothered to learn.

"Don't know, and be good like Master Zucul said," whispered Mace back.

"Meditate."

"This is what happens when Knights get dumped in the Crèche," muttered Rann. Everyone knew that "guest lecturers" were normally people being punished by the Council with babysitting duties.

"Hush." They managed to keep to quiet murmuring and squirming for the next few minutes until their guest lecturer arrived. He hurried in, robes rumpled, stubble on his jaw. An Initiate groaned, and Rann felt Mace's excitement dim.

"Sorry I'm late, kiddos, had some business to attend to," spoke the man with a drawl, bloodshot eyes roving the room.

"I'm Knight Arath Tarrex. No need to introduce yourselves." Knight Tarrex had a reputation within the Temple: constantly in trouble, bungled even simple missions, and yet miraculously failed upward. The fact even Junior Initiates knew the gossip spoke volumes. Of course, Rann knew that his repeated failures were due to his connections with organized crime. And his ability to receive more important missions due to his being the secret child of one of the High Councilors.

"Today, I'm supposed to teach you…" Arath tried to surreptitiously look at his holopad." Altus sopor. Good. Good. I'm good at that one. It's actually a pretty good skill to have, it can get you out of a tight spot, y'know?" Looking up at the blank faces of eight-year-olds who in fact did not know, he said, "anyway, I'm gonna…" he looked back at the holopad." kriff," he whispered under his breath. An Initiate gasped, and Mace's growing frown deepened.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"I'm supposed to demonstrate it to you. Dunno how that's gonna go with my… headache, but we'll figure it out I guess."

"He reeks," muttered someone behind him. Rann realized that the man did in fact smell quite strongly. A mixture of tabac and liquor. Wonderful.

"Okay, uhh, give me a second kiddos." Arath closed his eyes, and the clan of younglings felt the Force move around him for a second, before Arath opened his eyes and the Force returned to normal.

"Da-aannng. Shoot." Arath swallowed hard and rubbed at his eyes, swaying on his feet.

"Let me sit down and try again." He dropped into a meditative pose, eyes screwed shut. The Force wobbled oddly as Arath began to blur, even his tabac-and-liquor smell thinning until he looked like a half-finished hologram. In the Force it was more unsettling, feeling the bounds between being and world thin. Then came a sharp twang, and he popped back into focus, nearly keeling over.

"Not doing that again, nope. Sorry kids." The class, which had briefly been amazed, now stared at him. No one dared say anything, of course. Open sedition against higher-ranked Jedi was unimaginable, even one as pilloried as Knight Tarrex, but their judgement was evident. Arath sighed.

"Look, I'll answer any questions you've got, but that's the best you're gonna get out of me today. I need some water and a nap." And a new set of robes, he quietly thought. He raised his hand. He let the currents of the Force guide him, leading him to the outcome he most wanted.

"Yes, Initiate uhh…"

"Rann."

"Rann, right. What's your question?"

"Thank you for demonstrating that technique, Knight Tarrex. It was super cool!" Rann did his best to come across as sincere. Mace side-eyed him.

"How do I learn how to do that?"

"Heh. Don't get ahead of yourself kid, it took me years to learn how to do that. I'm just supposed to demonstrate it and show you how to do the basics."

"Aww." Mace was openly staring at him now.

"But master, surely you can't tell me how it's done?" With his ego stroked and pride poked, Arath launched into a surprisingly detailed and insightful explanation of the altus sopor school of techniques. When Rann began to utilize them, he even offered tips and tricks that genuinely worked. Rann was initially surprised at Arath's ability, but figured it was probably because of how useful it would be for running away from debt collectors and the like.

The rest of the class got involved as well, so Knight Tarrex began to walk around the class and assist the other students with their efforts.

"Not bad, kid." Rann's hair had begun to blur at the edges and become indistinct. Arath had recommended that they start with the nonliving parts of themselves, which were easier to understand as parts of the Force as one, rather than view as parts of themselves.

"Thanks."

"Picked it up quickly, didn't you?" Arath said, a note of jealousy in his voice.

"Having someone show me what to do really helped," Rann assured him.

"Without your instructions, I don't think I would have ever figured it out." Rann saw Mace's face of disgust at him as Arath's back was turned. Rann shrugged. If he couldn't con a degenerate gambler out of an advanced Force technique, the whole lesson would've been a wash. Sometimes, you had to do what you had to do.

"Heh. Yeah." Arath smiled.

"Yeah, I guess I'm pretty good at this teaching stuff." Rann nodded in agreement, sure to keep his expression cheery. Arath swelled with pride as Mace made faint noises of disgust.

"Just keep in mind that it can be dangerous, only practice around Masters, okay? Actually, don't do that, I'll probably get in trouble. Don't practice…" He looked around at the practicing younglings and sighed.

"Add it to the list, I guess," he murmured to himself. A soothing chime rang from his holopad.

"Looks like time's up! Kids, good luck and be safe, this technique isn't a toy. You, uhh – Rann! Right. Look kid, keep practicing and one day you'll be just like me." With that, Arath left the classroom without a look back, not even waiting for Master Zucul to arrive.

'Be just like me,' as if, thought Rann. He never wanted to be a loser who barely managed to hold onto his job because his mommy was on the Council. Especially if his mom was Yula Braylon, of all people. Her bad attitude was well-known throughout the Temple, and it was rumored that she made Initiates and Padawans who displeased her clean bathrooms with nothing but their bare hands and toothbrushes.

"What was that?" Mace punched his shoulder.

"Ow! What?"

"Oh, master Tarrex, you're super cool and amazing!" Mimicked Mace to the laughs of the other Initiates.

"Laugh all you want, but he wouldn't have shown us how to do it otherwise. And all I had to do was be nice and give him a complement."

"You totally sucked up to him," accused Mace.

"Yeah," he freely admitted.

"But we got to learn how to turn invisible, Mace. Invisible!"

"One day, you'll sweet-talk the wrong Master and I won't save you," Mace retorted sharply. At that moment, Master Zucul walked into the room.

"No Knight Tarrex, I see."

"No, Master Zucul. He left as soon as his time was up," answered Mace for the class.

"I see." Master Zucul's tone was bland, but the carefully managed Force-presence said much.

"Thank you, Initiate Windu. Come along then, children." Master Zucul herded them back to the Crèche, the initiates buzzing over their new trick. Rann blurred the edge of his hair until Zucul's eyeless gaze caught him, and he let it drop. It was the look that always made him wonder how much he already knew. At the door, Zucul made them promise not to attempt the deeper altus sopor arts, far too dangerous for younglings.

Rann repeated the words with everyone else, thinking it was a promise he'd break before the day was out.