The Dreamer in the Egg

Posted on Thu Aug 23rd, 2018 @ 9:14pm by Bomoor Thort & Thane & Amare & G2-O7 & 2-1BH "Useless"

2,426 words; about a 12 minute read

Chapter: Chapter V: Unbound
Location: Medical Bay/Lab, Red Raptor
Timeline: A few hours after "When Serus Met Amare"
Tags: Medbay, Raptor, Thane, Coda, Bomoor, G2-07, Useless, shell, bacta tank, chrysalis

OLD

Thane had saved Coda from death, but there was an abundance of strength he applied in his telekinesis on her soft frame that he might not have intended. She began to lose her balance, but managed a single telepathic word to him just before she passed out in his arms:

Chrysalis...

NEW

There was a long pause as the droid and the hologram stared at what occurred in the bacta tank.

"Dee...deet, dee-ret. Deet...rooo," G2 finally managed to say.

"Yes, that is, as you say...weird," Useless agreed. "Though I believe a more suitable word for this would be...absurd."

"Bee-deet...dee, deet!" G2 chided the medical hologram.

"What? Of course I set the system to prepare the solution exactly as specified," Useless answered incredulously. "I wasn't programmed yesterday, you know...or was I? Never mind. I'll have you know that is hospital-grade bacta. There were no special instructions for Nautolans. I triple-checked the database. It's not supposed to do...well, that."

G2 spat out a long series of harsh bleets and beeps.

"How dare you?!" Useless countered. "Of course she's not dead. I'm quite...um, positive...maybe? I should summon the masters. We're both going to have our memory banks permanently wiped for this, and it's all your fault...again."

“Quiet yourself down, Useless,” Bomoor commanded, as he and Thane made their way into the medical bay, having both heard the grating symphony of droid exclamations, “Thane said that Coda…”

He was caught of guard as he saw the spectacle before him in the bacta tank, “What… what am I looking at here?”

What they saw in the bacta tank wasn't exactly Coda floating in the healing solution, but rather a semi-transparent spherical bubble made of a thickened crystal-like membrane of bacta with multiple small spiky protective protrusions similar to quills on a Corellian hedgehog. There were also many fine, hair-like white tendrils extending from the bottom of the shell akin to a system of roots stretching out from the base of a plant. Inside, they could faintly see the blurry blue form of Coda tightly bundled inside in a fetal position. She was half-asleep, still in a great deal of pain, trapped somewhere between wakefulness and a nightmare.

No...I didn't want to kill him... she psychically called out, her mind drifting back on that fateful night aboard the Silver Sigil. She was pleading with her Jedi friend, lying to her, and deceiving herself just to feel better about the terrible thing she did to her friend's master. He...he was going to hurt me...I had to do it...no choice...no... The truth was she had a choice, and made the one that served her loyalty to Thane, or so she thought.

“This is not a technique I have ever seen,” the former-consular remarked, “I can feel her mind reaching out from inside; it’s like she is dreaming… or remembering.”

He turned to Thane, his expression not angry but simply confused, “We have barely had time to discuss the events since Coda returned and now this. What am I looking at here?”

"The technique itself I cannot comment on," the Human replied, no emotion being betrayed in his stern tone, "but otherwise, this is the result of a prideful girl who went too far." Not electing to explain more to Bomoor at the moment, Thane stepped forward, and placed his exposed right hand upon the glass of the tank. The metal of his prosthetic fingers clattered against the material, and stretched out with the Force.

Small waves rippled through bacta towards the encased Nautolan, and Thane also opened himself up within the Force bond he now shared with Bomoor, permitting the Ithorian a crisper insight into his own feelings on the matter, as well as even a glimpse into the accordance he had reached with his apprentice on Yavin, limited though that was.

"She was losing herself," Thane then added, "to a chaotic, wretched darkness that was not her." He looked over the peculiar form Coda had taken. Although he had received a rudimentary education in xenobiology at the Coruscant Temple, it was limited, and his knowledge of Nautolan physiology, despite their populous nature within the galaxy, even more so. He did feel certain, however, that whatever was happening now was not natural to the aquatic race.

Those waves that rippled from Thane stimulated the tendril roots that sent through the membrane, the fluid, and her body a wake-up call that instantly flicked on the more than twenty watts worth of biochemical processes in her brain. Startled from her dream, she shifted slightly and sensed her master, but when she looked around, she was surprised to see herself encased in the bubble.

Eche'na torvi-das ys'tae! she telepathically relayed to Thane, and, by extension, Bomoor, with surprise in her tone in what she consciously thought were Nautila words, but was in fact the same dialect of eldritch Sith invocations she picked up on Lorrd blended with her native tongue. Switching back to Basic, she added, I created the chrysalis again...I-I can't believe it. This is wonderful! I thought it wouldn't be possib...--Oh...oh no. I'm so sorry. I can sense your concern. Are...are you still angry with me?"

“Is that… Coda?” Bomoor queried, feeling the voice echoing distantly through his Force Bond.

Useless interjected, “I cannot detect any brainwave activity from the patient, although the sensors are struggling to obtain any readings through whatever that viscous fluid around her is. I am afraid I lack the knowledge to adequately treat this condition.”

"Goodbye, Useless." Thane gestured at the holodroid with the wave of his hand he had programmed the device to recognise as a dismissal. If he required any further medical information, he could use the interface. Whatever was happening was beyond a simple artificial intelligence's comprehension.

Despite himself, he somewhat desired Master Sotah, or even another ranking Jedi Master, to provide advice.

Maybe that was not beyond consideration.

"I am not angry," Thane both verbalised and conveyed to his apprentice and, by extension, Bomoor. "I am curious. And, actually, concerned." Not as in-tune with such methods, especially given the triad involved in this discourse, the would-be Sith found the spoken word a more effective way to assure his communication was effective.

I learned on Lorrd that the same transfer of energy I used to save you on Vaa, Coda explained, could also be used to save myself when I'm hurt. You know, in here, I still feel like myself, but I feel a bit different inside now. Not just the wounds mending, but something else is changing, and it feels good. Feels right. My memories are so clear now too. I can almost remember being born. The water I was in after I hatched...it was so bright and...green? That's funny. It reminds me of the boiling pool in Cabal's lab. After you destroyed him, the purple turned to that same green. Could be coincidence, or perhaps I hit my head in that temple harder than I thought.

“She spends so much time with her memories, it seems she is living there now,” Bomoor remarked, wondering if Coda was somehow turning her inability to shut out the past to her advantage; somehow retreating to that subconscious part of her mind.

The woman’s voice seemed to echo through with the same tone that they would were Coda fit and well before them, perhaps even more cheerful than her recent self. Bomoor stared through the glass and could see only her unconscious form floating free in her mysterious shell within the bacta solution.

Closing his eyes, he tried to pinpoint wherever in the Nautolan’s mind she was speaking from, Coda, this is Bomoor. How are you speaking to us so clearly? Where do you imagine you are right now?

Thane said nothing, adding only his unspoken desire to see Bomoor's question answered, but also with the added discrete warning of regarding the necessity of their subterfuge, even against the intellectual Ithorian. The time was fast approaching, however, where he knew he would need to tell his old friend a more coherent story of his delvings into the Sith arts.

Of all people, Bomoor Thort would understand. Thane just had to be sure he did, too.

I had a dream. Coda replied still stuck in her reverie, slowly fading back to her half-awake state. We were on Glee Anselm together. I was showing both of you the island where I grew up. The house is underwater, you see, and you both looked so funny wearing oxygen masks. Thane had his arms folded on his chest, but he kept a hand on half his face looking really upset and shaking his head whispering about...something, and pacing all over the place. Bomoor looked pale, really worn down, thinner, his robes were torn and dirty. He looked like he was in a fight, and like he hadn't slept or ate in days, and was staring at Thane looking really worried. And there was this Nautolan woman...she looked so familiar. She looked really sad, all by herself in the corner, her neck and wrists bound by chains, and her hands were glowing red...like mine do when I'm angry. Strange...maybe that was me, but she looked much older.

Thane frowned without meaning to, displeased at the imagery of Coda's so-called dream. He looked to Bomoor, wondering at the Nautolan's words. Since matters had spiralled into the quest they were now undertaking on Nar Shaddaa, ultimatley separate from the confines of the Reborn Jedi Order, it was not the first hint of a grim foreshadowing they had been confronted with.

"Sometimes," he said, "dreams are just dreams, even for Jedi... The byproduct of a ailing mind in a terrible situation, made only worse by their connection to the Force." Her master did his best to explain and reassure her, although he admitted it may even be for his own or Bomoor's benefit. "There are many tales of Jedi and Sith who have gone to commit grievous acts to avoid, or even fulfill, the prophecies of their own minds."

Sensing Thane's concern, masked though it was, Bomoor considered further what all these fantasies or visions meant about Coda. Even if they were just simple dreams, this place that Coda had retreated too was home to her most secure thoughts and desires and they spoke to her true nature. He supposed that he should be pleased that Coda's deepest thoughts were not of the Dark Side, but simply of home and a family she hoped the two exiled Jedi would become a part of. It was certainly a feeling that Bomoor could relate to.

A low beeping tone was coming from the control console monitoring the tank. The panel display indicated that the bacta treatment was complete. The liquid started to drain, and Coda's self-created bacta egg sank to the floor with her when the tank emptied. The shell started to lose cohesion and melted down into liquid bacta and drained out as well. Coda laid on her side shivering involuntarily in a fetal position as the tank opened up, her semi-exposed body covered only in minimal cloth coverings for the procedure. Her back was to her friends, and they saw again the deep narrow scars all over it which were present long before Thane's assault in the Massassi temple. Even bits of her posterior head tendrils were gashed and scarred when they got in the way of the slaver's whip.

Creasing his features at the concerning sight, Bomoor moved over to one of the medical lockers and grabbed a clean, sterile, white towel from within, which he gently placed over Coda's body, hiding the scars of her past once again.

"I forget how quickly all this has happened to her," the Ithorian spoke to Thane as he rose away from the now-covered Nautolan, "Her life as a slave is still so fresh and her desires to be free, to find her brother and explore her own abilities are understandably hard for her to control."

He faced Thane, "We have both felt that same darkness she has delved into: it offers her those things she desperately wants, but I fear that if she carries on using only that Dark Side of the Force, those scars on her body will never heal, let alone the mental ones. I can perhaps do more to help you with her training, if you will let me. She will remain your apprentice, but we are bound together in the Force now and the path this woman takes will shape me as well as you."

And many more, Thane considered, knowing that there was no way to challenge the verity of Bomoor's words.

"I have perhaps expected too much of her too soon," the Caanan admitted as he carefully gathered the Nautolan up in his arms, moving to gently place her on the nearby biobed, hopefully to aid in her final recovery from both her injuries and her-

Shell?

"A more considered approach might be needed, but if she is to join us in our quest against Axion - a fight that is not even hers, I accept - she needs to be capable of confronting not only the threats from without, but those from within." Thane took a couple of steps back from his unconscious apprentice to stand beside Bomoor, the pair regarding Coda carefully. "The point of this trial was to help her face her inner demons, either to discover them or to even confront them, and to grow as an individual. I see now that she requires a firmer, more present hand." He inclined his head to Bomoor. "As ever, I would welcome your counsel, and your assistance. She needs broadening beyond the teachings of one school of thought."

“We all could benefit from a broader perspective, but so rarely does the galaxy open its eyes,” Bomoor hummed softly, “But this one is different. She will see, if we show her the way.”

The pair of them stood, looking at the young woman anew. Reborn from her shell; her transgressions washed away leaving something new and impressionable. The two friends, now teachers had another chance to begin with Coda. Her future was in their hands, as theirs was in hers.

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