But This is Not Black and White

[out_of_order]

WHO: Cal Kestis, BD-1 and you
WHERE: Sh'Ka
WHAT: Totally avoiding Certain People while trying to recenter himself
WHEN: Mid-July
WARNINGS: N/A
NOTE: Will match tag format/preference!


"I will find you, Cal Kestis."

While the sentiment in those words is nothing new, the real concern that haunts the young Jedi is the fact that the threat is new and most importantly, here on this planet. Worse yet, within a confined area of a planet that they really had no great means to travel to, much less any knowledge of any possible places beyond the two cities they currently have access to.

Cal had thought that being on the run would have been over for him. He'd finally come out of hiding, fearlessly faced the Empire and the Inquisitors it sent relentlessly after him and his friends. He'd infiltrated the Fortress Inquisitorious and somehow made it back out alive. Being able to stay alive after everything is always a positive outcome. Being brought back to Agra 10 was considerably a vacation in comparison.

Once again, he finds himself in a defensive mode. At least he has the Force to rely on, and the one who might seek him out does not, but Cal had learned early on to be wary of Albert Wesker. Those concerns had only been further underlined once he'd found himself in the man's dreamspace.

If nothing else, Sh'Ka proves to be at least much more bearable for the weather. Cal had had BD-1 shoot off a few messages to Tony, Jon and Echo to tell them where he'd be if they needed him, an abrupt enough message to leave without seeing them, but the last thing he wanted was to draw attention to them if Wesker was on the prowl. He decides to revisit the power plant where he'd last set up camp, back when he'd led a small team on the repair work for the power grid. If he's going to be here, he may as well make himself useful and see if he can pick up on what was being done about the water.

It's been easier to find focus here too, for some reason. Calmer. Quieter. When he's not working on the water treatment equipment or tracing water lines, he's up on the roof of the hotel, meditating. It's not an easy spot to get to but it's peaceful, and the view's pretty nice.

Comments

[newmemorywhodis]

It's just a light projection, but to Link it's novel and captivating. He soon realises that he can't touch the map - but seeing his hand go through the image is just as fascinating.

He wriggles his hand and his fingers, watching how the light plays across them.

(...Zelda would love this. He wishes she should see it.)

[out_of_order]

The droid beeps again, giving his little feet a dancing tap in place before he switched map views. This time it displayed as a 3D layout, a simplified view of the city, outlined in teal lines.

Cal in the meantime resumes his study of the pipes, following where it goes to see how extensive the damage is.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link makes a soft noise of appreciation: he is clearly impressed by the map.

“How big can you show?” He asks, wondering just how far out the map could go. Was it just the city? Or could it show the areas around Temba and Sh’Ka: the unexplored wildernesses?

[out_of_order]

BD-1 tilts his head before he borbles what must be some kind of response. Cal chuckles, looking back towards them.

"He's got a pretty broad range, but it's harder to map out wild terrain as opposed to a city. Not impossible though. Hey BeeDee, bring up Temba and its outskirts."

The droid complies with a hoot and a bit of a wiggle, his projecting lens flickering before the other city is brought up, zoomed out some to include a few winding paths just beyond the city that they must have explored at some point, although not for very far. There's even the beach area.

"BeeDee's an exploration droid, so mapping out things and keeping a database of places and what we find there is part of what he does."

[newmemorywhodis]

Link gazes at the map, recognising its familiar landmarks. He's seen all of this, for real and in person - but it's still amazing to see this replica in light.

He never knew there could be such a thing as an exploration robot.

But - he pauses. Remembers encountering York, in his Calibrations dream. Link has more experience with Guardians - constructs that are most definitely not people, or even intelligent in any way. But now he knows that robots could be people. Sometimes.

"...Is BeeDee a person?"

[out_of_order]

That's quite the question. The map flickers out as BD-1 looks over at Cal, and Cal back at him. The Jedi smiles crookedly.

"He is to me," he says, and that's really all that matters so far as he's concerned. "We've been through a lot together, and really, I don't know what would have happened to me if he wasn't there." He holds out a fist to the little droid, who hoots happily and bounces over to lightly bap a foot against it.

"We look out for each other. BeeDee's my friend."

[newmemorywhodis]

Link tilts his head to one side. Frowns. A person, but just to Cal?

"Other people...don't think he's a person?"

He watches BeeDee. Guardians certainly wouldn't ever make that kind of casual, friendly gesture with someone.

[out_of_order]

"It depends on the people. Most here don't seem to have a problem with considering him just like another person," Cal says as he holds his arm out then for the little droid to hop up onto, almost like some large metal bird. BD-1 makes his way up and then clambers over the Jedi's shoulder before settling behind Cal, hanging onto the straps of his harness.

"Back home though, a lot of the times droids are just seen as tools and objects. It's true they're made and programmed to do certain things, but a lot of them have so much personality. And a lot of them can be smarter than most people too."

[newmemorywhodis]

Link watches the little robot go. It's a bit harder to picture BeeDee as a person - not like with York, who Link could talk and communicate with. But not impossible.

"We have...Guardians. But they aren't like people." Certainly not from what Link knew of them, at least.

[out_of_order]

"Guardians, huh? What do they do? Aside from what's suggested in the name?" BD borbles something, Cal casting a glance at him over his shoulder before translating.

"Are there many of them?"

[newmemorywhodis]

"...They were meant to fight the Calamity," Link says softly. He doesn't look at Cal, instead gazing off into the distance, as if at memories unseen. "But it corrupted them."

He falls silent for a moment. Then his eyes flick towards BeeDee. "Yes."

But this, perhaps, was not a good thing.

[out_of_order]

Cal looks down. Corrupted guardians... That hits a little close to home. The Inquisitors hadn't just appeared out of nowhere, after all.

"Sorry to hear that..." he says softly. Even BD-1 gives a mournful hoot.

[newmemorywhodis]

"The Calamity's gone now," Link says. "They are too."

It's a kind of reassurance. The people of Hyrule, at least, were more than glad to no longer have to fear a stray encounter with a Guardian. But even if they were corrupted - even if they weren't people in the way that BeeDee and York were - it still might not be the kind of thing Cal and BeeDee are glad to hear about.

[out_of_order]

"I see," Cal nods. Probably best, in Link's case. At least the Guardians sound like something less complex than a droid if they only had a singular directive. And Cal knows it's harder to fix things when it's people.

Jedi who have touched the Dark Side still struggle with it. He's seen Cere. He's not sure how easily it would be to completely pull back an Inquisitor to the Light. It still hurts to think about Trilla.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link falls silent for a moment, then. Lost in his own thoughts, just like how Cal seems to be lost in his. Whatever it is that Cal is thinking about though, Link doesn't pry.

Instead, after just watching Cal and BeeDee continue to work for a bit, Link says, "I can look for more pipes."

[out_of_order]

Cal lifts his head then, nodding at Link. "Oh, yeah. Sure. I'll see if there's anything that can be done for this one," he says, turning his attention back to the pipe there, but with it marked off, at least they can come back to it.

He suspects they're going to have a lot of work ahead of them.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link nods, decisively. Says, "Bye". And then runs off, to find more pipes.

For the rest of the day, Cal will find Link periodically showing up wherever he happens to be - each time with another report of damaged pipes to give.