revivalproject | Log // Catch-All for April

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Log // Catch-All for April - OTA

WHO: Cal Kestis, BD-1 and you!
WHERE: Around Temba
WHAT: Exploring, fixing stuff, poking around and scavenging
WHEN: Catch-all for April
WARNINGS: N/A

Without the threat of a storm looming over them, Cal figures it's as good a time as any to try to get anything done. There seems to be plenty to see, and he's had his share of experiences when it comes to roaming ruins. The replicator project has been a success, and in no small part due to the help of Cipher Nine and Hux. What else needs fixing around here? Other than...well, everything.

Green
In the northwest part of the city he's begun clearing out one of the larger buildings. The space had seemed ample enough for a suitable work area, and the adjoining room suitable for storage. If not moving things around, Cal can be found bringing in some things, likely broken, very much salvaged, from wherever his wanderings have been.

...or you might catch him napping on a makeshift pallet in a corner while BD-1 plays around in a box of junk. Hey, even Jedi get exhausted! Who knew?

Blue
Running around some random ruins is probably training enough, but sometimes it's nice to know you're in a controlled space. The old theater looks sturdy enough, and given it's still standing as it is after so long, Cal hopes his trust in the architecture isn't unfounded.

If he's not found climbing along the sides of the highest raised rows or making impossible jumps (or heaven forbid, wall-running), he might be found at ground level at the theater's center, going through some exercises with a metal rod (probably a thin pipe) he'd found somewhere. It's far from a lightsaber and it makes him miss the one he's lost, but he goes through the forms fluidly and with as much care as if he still wields a blade of light.

Alternatively he can be found by the flood plain, looking very much like he's contemplating a swim as he wonders what the waters have swallowed up.

(OOC: Or choose your own adventure/wildcard! If you're up for doing anything else or have any ideas, tag away or PM/plurk/discord (Trilobite Punch#4073) me! :D And if action tags are more your thing over prose, I'll go with whatever your pref.)

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Cal chuckles a little at the two. With Jon's addressing BD-1 again, the padawan stoops down to let the droid disembark, and so he does with practised ease.

"No, I didn't make him. Not so sure my skills are at the level of droid building anyway," he admits to Tony as he watches his tiny friend trot closer to the Archivist. "I found him. Or he found me." A shrug. "Haven't known him very long, but he's my best friend."

BD-1 seems to be eyeing the recorder that Jon pulls out in the meantime, sizing it up, perhaps. His rapid stutter of hoots and beeps pair with an almost smug demeanor as the little droid lifts his head and thrusts out his almost disproportionate body in a way one might puff one's chest. Challenge accepted, clearly!

Edited 2020-04-19 22:54 (UTC)

That was the spirit, let that tape recorder know it was old and busted, the new model was in town. Tony spread his arms out along the seat behind him to prop his head in one hand, pressing a knuckle to his smirk at the amount of personality that weird little body could display, and was still looking their way when he challenged, "Did you not get that replicator working? I'd say that's a little more advanced than a droid." At least, in Tony's experience, his planet was at least a decade out when it came to anything approaching a replicator, but they had more than their fair share of intelligent machines. He wasn't sure if this was a lie from Cal, or just misplaced humility. "What are we practicing?" he continued, not waiting for Cal to try to dig in his heels either way.

Meanwhile, Jon is perfectly fine with letting the two more mechanically versed men have a moment to themselves. His intention in the theater has after all been to make a few test recordings. Check how well the place would work in terms of acoustic. Of course he hasn't planned to make some with Cal's droid at first, but he isn't going to deny that he is a little pleased with this chance encounter.

He crouches before the droid to explain him what he plans to do and leaves it to the little robot to find the best place to record from once he took position himself, recorder in his hands. At least for this one he won't need to have the text written before him. It's a statement that has served him as a test before. Just a few sentences long and it has since stuck to his mind.

After giving BD-1 a short nod, Jon closes his eyes and turns on his recorder. The shift in the Archivist's voice is immediate, turning it grim and harrowing.

"𝕴𝖙'𝖑𝖑 𝖌𝖊𝖙 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖙𝖔𝖔. 𝖄𝖔𝖚 𝖈𝖆𝖓 𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖆𝖑𝖑 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖜𝖆𝖓𝖙. 𝕸𝖆𝖐𝖊 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖓𝖔𝖙𝖊𝖘 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖊𝖓𝖖𝖚𝖎𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖘. 𝕭𝖚𝖙 𝖆𝖑𝖑 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖇𝖊𝖍𝖔𝖑𝖉𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖜𝖎𝖑𝖑 𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖊 𝖙𝖔 𝖓𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖌. 𝖂𝖍𝖊𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖊 𝖆𝖗𝖗𝖎𝖛𝖊𝖘, 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖆𝖑𝖑 𝖎𝖘 𝖉𝖆𝖗𝖐𝖓𝖊𝖘𝖘 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖇𝖚𝖙𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖞, 𝖞𝖔𝖚'𝖑𝖑 𝖜𝖎𝖘𝖍 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖍𝖆𝖉 𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖕𝖕𝖊𝖉 𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖗𝖚𝖓."

And just for a moment longer he lets himself dwell in this temporary persona. It remains an odd one to him.

"I had help with that," Cal feels the need to clarify. "And we were fortunate to have downloaded the schematics and scan the working replicators on Risa. They're a definite step up from scrapping starships." He's pretty sure that if they had nothing to work off of, the attempt would have taken a lot longer.

It takes him a moment to follow and retrace what stems Tony's other question. He glances down at the pipe yet in hand. "Saber forms," he supplies. "Haven't seen a particular need for it here, but you know." A shrug. "Never hurts to keep it up."

BD-1 pays rapt attention as Jon explains what he has in mind, a simple enough task. Casting a glance about, the little one opts for taking up position some several feet from the Archivist and a few paces to the side to capture him in three-quarter turn. At the nod, the droid's left lens begins to flicker and then glows as he begins his recording.

The obvious shift in Jon's tone is unusual and a surprise enough that the droid briefly starts, however continuing his recording.

From where he stands by Tony, even Cal pauses to look over towards the two, a frown marring his brow. He glances at Tony; he's not imagining things, is he?

For all of the weird shit Jon had shown him, that particular trick hadn't come up yet in front of Tony, either, and he mirrored Cal's expression as they both turned away from the display hoping for an explanation in each other. The voice was bad enough, but was Cal going to let Jon say that dark shit to his little buddy? Tony felt like someone should be covering BD-1's aural processor. "Psycho killer, qu'est-ce que c'est?" he sang for them under his breath, and suddenly felt like he shouldn't be watching that production anymore.

Cal had a good distraction, anyway. "Don't let us keep you," Tony encouraged, shifting in his seat and giving an indication with a jerk of his chin to bring on the show. "Saber, like a sword, you're a sword guy," he processed to make sure they were both talking about the same thing. "Very medieval, very personal, not really my thing. Did a bit of fencing in college, is that something?"

There are reasons why Jon has always preferred to record only when by himself and has ensured that various rooms in the archives, including his office, are soundproof. It's the same reasons why none of his assistants feel comfortable with staying in the same room when he records. He liked to think that he was merely getting invested. Though by now he knows better.

The piece he chose to record may be short, but it is still a statement. Or at least the fragment of one. Found tucked away in a stray file and found more by chance than intention, but it has served Jon well when trying to find a way to record these reports that so vehemently refused to be stored by digital means. These few short sentences were the reason he had to request a new PC from Elias on his second day as head archivist.

But BD-1 seems fine - Apart from maybe a little disturbed. So Jon decides to approach him with an apologetic smile and crouch down before the droid, carefully picking a softer voice to speak to the robot. A voice he usually reserves for engaging with cats.

"I'm sorry. I should have said something I suppose. Did it work? Can you play it back, please?"

He knows what to expect from the tape recording: Some underlying crackling and a faint noise, neither caused by the recorder itself.

Strange as the matter is, Tony manages to diffuse any concerns that might have started to form. It certainly doesn't answer any questions, but Cal still trusts Jon won't be doing anything too weird with his buddy there.

Aside from the initial start, BD-1 doesn't seem like he's otherwise affected by Jon's strange intonation, and Cal wonders if maybe it's just him. Shaking his head, he looks back to Tony. He gives the pipe another twirl, over the back of his hand so he can readjust his grip to something closer to the end. Not a trick he'd attempt with his usual weapon for obvious reasons, but in this instance, it serves its purpose.

"Yeah, I guess you can say that. Not something from college- I've never been. Since I was young, I studied in the Jedi temple." He goes through a brief demonstration of Makashi forms, almost kendo-like in execution. "We're supposed to be protectors of peace and the people, and a lightsaber is the weapon of a Jedi."

Over by Jon, BD-1 remains attentive until Jon signals that he's done. The light flickers and fades off, and the droid shifts a bit in position as he looks up at the Archivist when he comes to crouch closer.

A borble of a response is emitted, a pause and then a few beeps by way of answering Jon's question before BD turns his head to the side so as not to blind Jon, and projects the holorecording he'd just taken.

There was something so charmingly naive about the way Cal explained his discipline that Tony smiled and thought he might have been even younger than he looked. Not that it was hard to believe in the ideals or even a place like a Jedi temple, but kids learning swordplay for peace really felt like a playground game when Cal had a pipe to play with. This was a much different energy than Jon over there threatening a robot.

"Is it a religious thing? Knights of the Round Table concept?" he asked, because a temple could be a lot of things, but the sword element felt a lot less Buddhist monk than Christian missionary. Tony did like a knight, but they did have a very narrow view of 'peace' and, for that matter, 'people'.

Tony, please. Jon isn't threatening the little droid. He is putting him to good use recording a sinister piece of text, thank you very much.

Or at this moment he is much rather watching the replay, not quite used to this oddly ghostly rendering of the holographic recording. But it is... Interesting? Yes, he looks like a ghost. And given how terrible he looks anyway, then combining it with the tone of the brief statement... Well, fine. This might look at least remotely disconcerting.

Still. The sound is good and the words clearly audible.

"Thank you." He nods once the replay has finished and he gets out his recorder to rewind the part and play it in comparison, holding it out towards BD-1 to show the droid the difference. It's still audible, but the crackling undertone is, indeed, present.

"Believe it or not, you made the first successful digital recording of this. Well done." Just a little praise for the droid. Jon is starting to see how the little robot makes good company, though. Aside from being useful, that is. He is rather pleasant to talk to.

Maybe at one point he was naive about it, about what the duties of a Jedi. Cal reverses the grip of his 'saber', giving it a jab behind him as though to stab a flanking foe before he turns and once again grasps the pipe in both hands to deliver a powerful downwards swing.

"Some look at it that way. I'm not familiar with these Round Table Knights, if that's a thing from your world, but I guess I can see how people thought of the Jedi as a religious group." He straightens, lowering his makeshift weapon. "The Order is gone now. We were drawn into a war, fighting for the Galactic Republic as generals and commanders over their armies against the Trade Federation Separatists. That was about five years ago." He shakes his head. "Something happened, or maybe something had been happening, behind the scenes. In the end, the Jedi and the Order were made out to be traitors to the Republic."

The holorecording flickers out once it comes to an end, and BD-1 steps a little closer, rising slightly on his spindly legs like an overly curious bird as Jon brings out his recorder to play back the same recording. His head tilts, and he glances up at the Archivist again before hopping back with a pleased sounding trill. And yes, the droid does look rather proud of himself, not that he had any doubt that he would do better than the tape recorder.

His inquisitive beeping suggests if there's anything else Jon needs of him.

The replay of Jon's message drew Tony's attention again and he watched BD-1's surprisingly stable projection and wondered at the clarity of the audio that clearly wasn't the same tool that produced his voice, until Cal's slash snapped Tony's gaze back to the pipe. It didn't sound like it was long enough ago for Tony to try pressing Cal on the war, he could tell that a result like that could only mean that they had lost whatever fight they were in, or the post-war society had quickly decided to distance itself from the kind of moral shitshow that recruited kids for the meatgrinder. Five years ago Cal must have been barely a teen, he wasn't kidding when he said he had started young. Of course a state at peace wouldn't want to be associated with that behaviour.

"Are you good at it?" Tony asked instead. The way Cal moved seemed impressive and well controlled, but it wasn't like Tony had great context for what a Jedi was supposed to look like, especially without an opponent to help set a tone. How he answered could reflect meaningfully on how his training made him think of himself, though.

Jon resists the urge to pat the droid on the head for a job well done and instead just nods at him "I think we're good for now. You may delete the file if you wish."

Maintaining a somewhat uncharacteristic smile on his face, Jon stands back up and directs his attention over to the display Cal is putting up for Tony. Yes. Still impressive. He definitely doesn't want to pick a fight with the young Jedi.

He still directs a remotely playful tone towards Cal. Which still doesn't fully shed off the man's usual seriousness "I will have to relief you of BD-1 for good at some point, I'm afraid."

That peace was a lie... There are so many questions that have no answers to them, and being suddenly alone to fend for himself, Cal had no one to ask them, especially when he was suddenly made out to be an enemy.

Cal shrugs as he considers Tony's question. "I've only recently got back up to the level I left off, and then some," he admits. "Still alive so far, so I that accounts for something." He can't say he's good, not when his last encounter with his past resulted in a broken lightsaber.

Back with Jon, BD-1 beeps an affirmative, not that he deletes the recording. He rarely does that, perhaps for the idea that maybe it might be needed some day. The droid looks back over at Cal as Jon addresses him, glancing back at the Archivist himself as though to say 'well that's news to me.'

Cal looks over at Jon as well, then. He smiles crookedly. "At least you seem to have gotten used to him. I'd let BeeDee have the final say on that, but I'll admit, I'd be pretty upset if you did."

And Tony hadn't even had his chance in the competition for BD's affections. He touched his heart, scandalized, and chastised Jon, "Think about the family, Holly Homewrecker." Something told him Jon didn't have a lot of experience being the Other Man, he should have been leaving that to the professionals in the room. To Cal, he continued, "But if you're going to give him up that easily, I daresay he'll be the most eligible bachelor in town. I'd be jealous, but we could use the entertainment. Hey, BD, do you know what a rose ceremony is?"

Cal's answer to his question wasn't nearly as enlightening as Tony hoped; if anything, the most he knew now was that Cal could come across reasonably well adjusted. Which was a positive, not everyone around here had to be a live wire, and if he knew the other kids, maybe he could be a positive influence.

Jon casts a final look and a short, friendly shrug down to BD-1 before slowly walking back to the other two men, carefully pocketing his recorder on the way "To be fair, if I had to choose between Cal and myself, I wouldn't be choosing my own company either."

A simple, yet rather truthful conversation. He makes sure to maintain enough distance to Cal and his pipe, as to not disturb any potential swings "Though I appreciate that you let me borrow him. The results are as impressive as they are chilling." By which he is referring to the somewhat ghostly appearance of the holographic display.

Though he did pick up something else while recording as well.

"You mentioned a lightsaber, Cal. And yet you settle with a pipe..." A question without directly making it one.

BD-1 walks along after Jon as he returns to join the other two's company, a little hop in his step as he circles about Cal's feet before wandering over to look up at Tony with a confused beeping. Rose ceremony? What?

Cal grins at the little droid, and to Tony's words he can't help but laugh. "I wouldn't give him up, but I wouldn't want to force my company on him if he doesn't want it." He chuckles as the droid beeps a protest and skitters back to clamber up the padawan's leg to the usual perch behind him.

"You're welcome. BeeDee was eager to be of assistance too." He tilts his head. "That ...voice you were using..." Being used to the appearance of holos, he doesn't realize it might not be the same for others. Yet it doesn't quite make sense to him that Jon's own way of speaking differently for the recording would be the reason the man might be disturbed.

A blink, and after a glance from Jon to Tony, Cal looks down at the pipe in his hand. His grip around it tightens slightly, his expression going more neutral, save for the nuance of a frown that's almost hesitant to make a full appearance.

"...it...didn't arrive with me," he says, the hesitation suggesting that that fact alone wouldn't have changed matters if it had.

The approach of the droid got Tony to lean forward, hands clasped over his folded knee to answer like he was explaining fusion reactions to a toddler after they asked what the sun was. "It's where you show all of your suitors who still had a chance to make you a married man, and explain to the ones that didn't make the cut why you're not meant for each other. Stuff like speaking in tongues can be a real deal breaker for most guys." He slouched back again as BD-1 went pattering away, head cocked with an admiring grin to watch him climb again and settle like he belonged there. That was a boy and his dog if Tony ever saw one.

He didn't quite read the weight of Cal's answer about the lightsaber, though, distracted by one unmistakable detail; "You had other things arrive with you?" Obviously, Cal had his little buddy there, which made it all the stranger what the selection process was. "I showed up like I was born here. Did you get stuff?" The question to Jon was almost accusatory, like he had been in charge of what Tony was or wasn't allowed to bring with him.

"Voice?" Jon blinks at Cal for a moment, but then seems to get what he is being asked and settles with an almost apologetic look "Oh, right. That... I guess it's... I've gotten used to it, my assistants prefer not to be in the same room. It's... Something to do with these specific texts. They draw you in and you adopt their... Tone."

It may not be the best explanation, but it's a good enough try. And hopefully he doesn't have to give a full disclosure on the various kinds of statements.

Chalking that matter up to be answered, Jon proceeds to incline his head at Cal's explanation for his lacking lightsaber.

"So they didn't let you keep your weapon." Which in a way makes sense? And he casts a look over to Tony, raising a brow at the man's tone before answering his question "I had my tape recorder on me." Yes, not the most impressive piece of technology, but Jon feels better with it around.

Somehow BD-1 manages to give a perfect impression of a blank look with that explanation. Humans of Tony's world must be a strange breed indeed! Such a custom is certainly nothing he's collected in his databanks before now, and one can be sure that there is now an entry under 'Rose Ceremony'.

Cal isn't quite sure he understands the need for such a tone, as Jon describes it, but he can see why Jon's assistants wouldn't be comfortable in the same room if the way the Archivist had spoken those words earlier were anything to go by. He looks like he might ask more, but with the subject shifting to the specifics of their arrival, he lets it lapse.

He also seems mildly relieved he isn't pressed about details regarding the lightsaber, accepting the tangent with a nod. "Just what I was wearing, along with BeeDee." Honestly he's glad the little droid had been with him, and although he wouldn't have it any other way, he still constantly feels the absence of his lightsaber.

A shrug is given at Jon's observation. "It wasn't working anyway," he says. The tape recorder had been something Cal was aware of from when he first met the Archivist, so the response to Tony isn't unexpected.

Edited (whoops, too man 'nows') 2020-04-22 00:48 (UTC)

Of course Jon had the recorder on him, obviously everyone else got to travel with what they loved most in the world. Tony pouted, feeling at this moment like he would have appreciated the comfort of his own socks at least half as much as Cal appreciated his droid, never mind the Iron Man, and unable to think the disparity in luggage was anything but subjective. This was a personal punishment.

If Jon was correct about the weapon restriction, though, that could have explained the Iron Man's conspicuous absence. Not that Tony would agree with the assessment, but the Agrii were hard to pin down. Tony had to keep on pressing Cal about his discipline, though, because he just said something completely wild. "Your sword doesn't work," Tony rephrased flatly for him, the question in the arch of his brow. Had he meant 'light' as in radiation, not weight?

To be fair, if Jon hadn't arrived with the recorder, he would probably just subconsciously spawn even more of those things around him any time he needs to vent. Which he does frequently enough at least.

Though he does catch the same specific wording in Cal's phrase as Tony and he pulls up a single brow and tilts his head as if to wordlessly second the question. Is he literally speaking of a saber made of light?

It's a clarification that Cal hasn't anticipated, although he supposes he should have for how different the places they come from seem to be. He blinks as he realizes what Tony is implying, the laugh that follows brief, but unforced.

Explaining a lightsaber's the easy part, at least.

"Oh, right." The padawan scratches the back of his head, looking almost sheepish at having overlooked that detail. He lifts the pipe. "Lightsaber. The weapon of a Jedi." Among other things, if the Inquisitors were anything to show for it. "The blade is pure energy, like a beam of light. It can cut through almost anything. The power is generated from the hilt."

That wasn't much less wild, and Tony squinted and looked to Jon to see if he was buying this. Now Cal's story was really sounding like a game he played, very well-my-sword-can-cut-diamonds, but the details weren't in the top ten weirdest encounters Tony had experienced here. Jon was in the room, it was hard to ignore, and it wasn't like Tony was unfamiliar with laser cutting or a bunch of teenagers doing extraordinarily dangerous shit. If Cal looked a few years older, Tony thought, he might not have been as slow to believe him.

"Can we make one?" Besides, Tony really wanted to see it now.

"Even if we could, the real question might be, if we should." Jon comments with a dark frown "An energy blade capable of cutting through almost anything sounds remarkably dangerous." And the Agrii didn't bring them here to fight any wars as far as Jon remembers.

Or at least he hopes that isn't the case.

The padawan doesn't respond so quickly, perhaps gauging between the reactions of Tony and Jon. He dips his head in a slight nod, a partial answer to both.

"It's a weapon. The potential for danger is always there. It depends on the use and the wielder, of course." He lowers the pipe. "It does have its uses outside of combat. Slicing through doors and walls. ...I don't recommend doing so with power cables unless they're shut down." There's the flicker of a grimace, and BD-1's hooting sounds almost chiding in a way, further confirmation that the latter may have been a lesson learned through unfortunate experience.

Glancing from Jon to Tony, Cal shrugs. "The real problem would be the power source. Seeking out a kyber crystal to use for making our lightsaber is one of the tests we go through as younglings."

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