Epilog: Tabula Rasa

This was my first idea for the 'What if?' DCC. I ended up not using this because it doesn't exactly take place during the game and therefore doesn't quite conform with the rules of the challenge as I understood them. Even if it did, I feared that others would likely use the same or a similar idea. That would be something like two girls wearing the same dress to prom. Still, my lovely beta, Moonmythology, and I put a lot of time into this so I am posting it anyway as part a of my ongoing Epilog series. I hope you like it.

'So, you remember nothing, you say? Nothing at all? You're certain?' The elderly man asked for what must surely have been the millionth time.

'No. Nothing,' He answered honestly. The suspicious man, who'd introduced himself as Master Vrook exchanged a glance with the little, pointy-eared one now known as Master Vandar. These people, Jedi, as he was told they were, had been prodding him with many questions. But providing him with few answers.

The man's muscles were sore. He was wrapped in bandages. His head was pounding. And there was an uncomfortable metal thing in place where he was certain his jaw should be. From what little he had gathered, it seemed that he'd been in some kind of battle recently. He had overheard others elsewhere in the medical bay occasionally make reference to one conversation with each other. He wondered if he had somehow been involved.

He impatiently fidgeted as he sat up on his bed. While appreciative of someone to talk to, after days of near solitude, these masters were less than ideal company. Nobody, except for these two Jedi masters, a woman, and a medical droid had spoken to him ever since he woke up in this strange place. Occasionally, a few curious strangers would poke their heads through the door and whisper to others out of sight. Whenever he tried to talk to them they quickly vacated the area, either of their own volition or because the guards chased them off.

Two armed guards stationed outside his door prevented him from venturing outside of the solitary confines of his room. Moreover, they prohibited everyone, with the exception of a select few, from visiting him. The guards themselves inexplicably seemed somewhat hostile towards him. They rejected his attempts to converse with them.

Eventually, the masters seemed content enough with his answers and left him alone. He had done his best to cooperate with them. This time for once, they'd cooperated with him as well, to an extent, at least. They had informed him that he was in the med bay of a Republic ship now bound for Coruscant. Additionally, they'd confirmed his suspicion that he had sustained his injuries while involved in a recent skirmish between the Jedi and Republic forces against some malevolent force called 'the Sith,' Telling him nothing of his particular role. But as they seemed to be treating him well enough he naturally assumed that he must have been on their side. It made sense to him.

Master Vandar had explained to him that an injury to his head was responsible for his amnesia. When he asked if he would ever be able to recover his lost memories, both masters seemed to turn to stone, hesitant to reply. Finally, Vandar spoke, explaining to him that his mind had been badly damaged and would likely never fully recover. Vrook cleared his throat loudly at this, giving some kind of implied signal to the smaller master.

It had been nearly an hour since they'd left him alone. Bored out of his mind, he quietly sat on his hard mattress, mulling over recent events.

He first awoke three days ago, on his bed in this small, dimly lit, and completely unfamiliar room. Confused, he lay silently on the bed and wracked his brain for an explanation. None could be found. Eventually, he gave up. Gingerly, he crawled out of bed, his nerves screaming in protest. He had to brace himself against the wall to prevent himself from collapsing. Slowly, he hobbled his way to the door and poked his head out. He scanned up and down the darkened hallway but found it quite desolate. He pulled his head back inside.

After weighing his options for a few minutes, he decided to take his chances outside. Cautiously, he stepped out as silently as possible. Occasionally, he would peek inside the doors as he traveled sluggishly past. Inside each one he'd see rooms identical to his, each with two or three sleeping people inside on their own beds. Many seemed to be injured to varying degrees of severity.

He followed the wall that he had been using for support to the end of the hallway. There, his path split. He checked both directions but, as before, found no one present. He decided to keep to his wall and followed it left.

As he reached the double-doors at the end of the hallway, they suddenly slid open. The surprised man jumped backward. After a few tense seconds, the door slid shut again. Quickly recovering, he stepped forward and as before, the doors slid open. Feeling a little bolder, he stepped into the doorway and peered into the darkened room.

Inside, on every wall was a large glass tube. In each tube, a sentient was suspended in green liquid. Some tubes had a little bit of red liquid floating with the green. Every one of the sentiments seemed to be seriously injured. Some of them, he could tell, were dead.

Feeling somewhat ill, He leaned against the doorframe. 'What could have possible happened to hurt all these people?' Something horrible had just happened, of that much he was certain.

The man turned around and staggered along the wall. He made his way through the ship in this fashion, occasionally switching walls and direction at random. Although he had found himself in well-lit corridors but had yet to find any conscious person. Truth be told, he wasn't all that certain that he even wanted to find anyone. Whoever he meets may not necessarily be friendly. For all he knew, anyone he could come across may even be the vary reason there are so many wounded around.

Up ahead, he heard a faint whistling. Startled, he ducked behind a waste receptacle. The whistling grew louder, causing the man's fists to tighten in apprehension. Suddenly, a small metal ball floated by close the ceiling. The man watched as it flew right past him and down the corridor. Apparently it hadn't noticed him.

Crisis averted, the man let out a sigh and resolved to continue about his way. He hadn't managed to travel twenty meters before he began to hear sounds of life again. Faint voices and footsteps were emanating from somewhere nearby. The man froze in place, listening intently.

The footsteps and voices progressively intensified. Soon, the approaching source of the sounds was right around the corner up ahead. Panicking, he quickly opened the nearest door and ducked inside what happened to be a utility closet, closing the door behind him as stealthily as he could manage. He pressed back to the door and slid down it into a crouching position on the floor. His heart was pounding out of control within his chest as he concentrated on remaining as quiet as he possibly could in the pitch-black closet.

'With all due respect, Master, there's no way the court will simply let this go. And, to tell the truth, I don't even want them to. I deserve to be punished for my crimes. I know and accept this.' A grim, feminine voice spoke.

'But what of the others, young one? What of Padawan Bastila, Miss Ban, and young Onasi? Perhaps if you were by some means able to convince the court that one can truly be redeemed, that one can turn away from the dark side to serve the light, as you have done, they might show mercy upon you, and the others as well.' The voice he supposed belonged to the master paused for a beat, seemingly slightly distracted, before finishing. 'Furthermore, there could be others who would choose the light if only an appropriate example could be set.'

'Master,' She drawled, 'I doubt-' Suddenly; the man heard one set of footsteps stop dead. The second set of footfalls continued for a few more seconds until coming to a stop just on the other side of the door.

'I am surprised you hadn't noticed sooner, young Jedi.' The man spun around in his closet and backed himself as far away as he could as the door slid open. Trough his wide eyes he saw a small, bald, and wrinkled creature with pointy ears looking back at him. 'Greetings.' Behind this small creature, a human female stepped into view. She regarded the alarmed man silently, her expression betraying nothing.

He didn't know what to expect from this encounter, or how to react. Briefly, he considered fighting them, as there existed no way to escape but through them. His body, however, injured and weak, would not allow him to even attempt such a thing.

'Calm yourself.' The short one instructed. 'We will not harm you.'

'Wh- Who... Who...?' He stammered. His voice sounded unnatural to his own ears.

'Hmm...' The pointy-eared creature turned and spoke to his significantly taller companion. 'It is as we suspected, it seems.' She offered the little master no reply but simply stared down at him.

The master glanced back at the man one last time before departing in the direction from which it came. The woman, who'd remained where she stood, stared after the retreating creature until it was out of her sight. She blinked and slowly turned her head back to face the man in the closet. He flinched as her cold eyes locked on his. For what seemed like an eternity, she said nothing but simply stared.

At last, she spoke, slowly and deliberately, 'Do you know who I am?' He shook his head, not understanding why she thought that he might. They've never met, as far as he knew. She blinked. 'Do you know who you are?' Her voice was soft but serious.

It seemed like such a ridiculous question. 'I-' He began to identify himself but was drawing a blank. 'I...' He lowered his head, as if attempting to look at himself. His headache reminded him of its presence, distracting him slightly. He furrowed his brow in concentration. This was most disconcerting.

The woman waited patiently for his answer. Finally, he lifted his head. 'I seem to recall being referred to as...' For a moment a tense silence hung between them. 'Alec?' He finished with an upward inflection.

The woman closed her eyes and released a breath. When she reopened them a slight smile illuminated her face. 'Well. Alec.' She tilted her head to the side. 'What are you doing huddling there, all alone and the dark?' She stepped forward and extended a hand.

He hesitated for a moment, unsure. 'You can come with me. There's nothing for you in there.' Her soft, tired eyes and kind smile beckoned him. Maybe he should trust her after all. Finally, he accepted her hand, and with a smile of his own, allowed her to pull him into the light of the corridor.

'By the way, my name's Victoria.' She gently draped one of his arms over her shoulder to support him. 'Come on,' she said nodding her head in the general direction of the area from which he had come. 'Let's get you back to your room. You're hurt, you know. You should be resting.'

'You too.' He countered noticing her slight limp as she returned him to his room. It crossed his mind that there was something that seemed vaguely familiar about her. Maybe they had met, as her first question posed to him suggested. Or, Perhaps he had simply already grown to like her a little, he rationalized.

He wished she, or anyone for that matter would visit him now. Being confined alone in this small room for all these days was maddeningly boring. He stood and opened his door just a crack, hoping the guards wouldn't notice. They always gave him trouble whenever they thought he would try to exit his room unescorted by Jedi. All the others were allowed to come and go as they pleased, but not him. It didn't seem fair at all.

Peeking through the barely open door he saw a familiar face looking back at him. 'Hello.' The door flew open instantly and Alec, being quite surprised, leaped backwards, tripped, and crashed on his hind end. Despite herself, Victoria snorted and unable to contain herself any longer, laughed hysterically at the ridiculous scene before her. The once great and powerful 'Alec' was such a jumpy klutz.

'Thanks,' She managed between giggles, 'I can't remember the last time I've been able to laugh like that.' Alec, who'd scrambled to his feet, was embarrassed beyond words.

She inhaled and exhaled deeply, regaining her composure. Seriously, she continued. 'Hey, I just stopped by to inform you that we'll be arriving on Coruscant soon.'

Not wanting to seem more like a dork than he did already, he didn't ask what 'Coruscant' was. Instead, he asked, 'What happens then, when we get to Coruscant?'

For some reason beyond his conception, solemn expression marred her face. She narrowed her eyes and averted her gaze. Without another word, she turned about and left. His two hard-faced guards stepped into view, re-assuming their posts.

Then, as the door slid shut, Alec found himself alone once more. Whatever was to happen on Coruscant, he couldn't tell. The future is always a mysterious entity. One that Alec couldn't wait to see.