Post by TopSecretSpyGuy on Aug 13, 2017 4:34:17 GMT
*Trapped within his own mind, Juren stood in the imaginary space looking at a duplicate of himself. His clone, realizing that something very strange had happened at that trial when Extor somehow knew the plan, realized that something must be terribly amiss. He had sunk into a deep meditation to search his own mind, and here he had found his invader. Two Juren consciousnesses within one Juren mind.*
"I don't know where you came from or how you got here, but playtime is over. You've spilled my secrets. You know I can't have that."
"What are you doing? These people are your friends."
"I don't need friends. I need..."
*Confused silence*
"You need what? What, Juren, WHAT do you NEED that causes you to--"
"I need you out of my way."
*In an instant the clone Juren had a firm grip on Juren. Unfortunately he was the one in control of this mind.*
"Now, what am I going to do with you..."
*After a few moments he got a look of evil ingenuity in his eyes, and then they were off. As they started walking, different memories started swirling by. Unhappy memories. Dark memories. Fear that made Juren's metaphysical body quiver. He could feel that of his duplicate doing the same, but he pressed forward nonetheless, forcing Juren along with him into the darkest recesses of his mind. Finally with a shudder that shook the memories surrounding them, a door appeared. A large door, like black rotten wood, and rot that extended to the very space surrounding it. It was covered in locks and bolts of all kinds, sealing away the memories hidden behind this door. Juren recognized it well. It was always in the back of his mind, always there, always reminding him for as long as he could remember but he had refused to open it. Every question about why he was the way he was led to this door like a trail of crumbs, but the deepest instinct of his being told Juren that this door was never to be opened. And yet here is replacement was undoing the bolts. Both of them shook with the fear of knowing what lay beyond this door. Juren tried to speak but could not find words. Finally, with the last bolt undone, his nemesis turned to him with a fearfully apologetic look in his eyes.*
"I'm sorry... but I can't do what I have to do as long as I share my mind with an opponent who knows my every thought."
*He gripped Juren by the shoulder, closed his eyes, opened the door, and ever so quickly Juren was thrown into the rotten darkness, filled with a stench of mental signals that cried unrelentingly, "Turn back!"*
Known everywhere else as Topplenaut. You can call me Top for short.
Post by TopSecretSpyGuy on Aug 13, 2017 5:24:27 GMT
OOC: We're going deep now. Probably the deepest we're ever going to get with this. Also kind of dark. There are hints buried throughout the (what 5 or 6 year?) story that point to this, the most significant of which I will point out when I get there (not in this post).
IC:
*Juren was afraid to open his eyes. Every mental note, signal, memory and sense surrounding this part of his mind screamed that he was not supposed to be here. Unfortunately there was no opening his eyes within his mind. Everything was thoughts and memory, and there was no hiding from them here. Before his mind's eye the story began to unfold, and try as he might he could not stop himself from reliving it all.*
*He found himself in a room filled with pure darkness. The smell was unbearable and spoke of death. In an instant a ring of red candle flames burst into existence, and the minute amount of heat that emanated from them made him suddenly aware of the frigidness of the air, though the temperature somehow didn't bother him. He heard a deep voice.*
"Arise, my servant."
*Juren arose, not of his own will but as a part of the memory.*
*The Sith had searched high and low for just the right candidate. Similarly to the Jedi they hunted for a young child with great Force potential, but they also hunted for particular mental characteristics. He needed to have a mind which they could bend to their own purposes. And through weeks of careful Force manipulation they had formed his mind like clay, reshaping it, enhancing the frontal lobe, and endowing him with two particular characteristics. Firstly, they expanded the problem solving and planning part of his brain. And secondly, they forced a personality trait deep into the priorities of his prefrontal cortex: An overbearing need to have control, the very desire that made Sith the power-hungry monsters that they were. By the time they were done he was a blank slate, not a shadow of his original personality remaining. If this experiment was successful, it would bring about the incredible possibility of creating powerful Sith acolytes with unusual amounts of skill in their particular areas of assignment.*
"How may I serve you?"
"You are going to fulfill a very special mission. I am going to send you into the heart of the enemy. You will learn their ways, you will learn to predict their every move, and you will gain their trust. And then, when you rise to the height of power... you can crush them."
"Yes, my master."
"For now, rest. Soon we will begin the final procedure."
*Juren recognized this voice. He could not remember where he had heard it, but he knew it from somewhere in his memories as a Jedi. Who was this dark being that hid in the shadows?*
*He then recalled the minutes before the final procedure. The faceless shadow was pacing in circles around him in his chair.*
"In order to accomplish your mission, I am going to bury you within your own mind. You will be a living ticking time bomb. The memories that I am going to give you will serve to hide your darkness... until the time is right. You will live among the Jedi as one of them. When the time has come for you to complete your mission, you will awaken. And then... you will drag the Jedi to their knees."
*And with that the final procedure began. The Sith began planting false memories, an entire false life into young Juren's mind. Layer after layer of memories, thoughts, and personality, covered the dark mission with which he had just been bestowed. However, just as the procedure was drawing to a close, something went wrong. The facility was struck by some sort of an explosive force, shaking it violently. The dark being was thrown out of concentration. Juren had a vague recollection of being rushed to an escape pod, and as he hurtled across space within the safety of his small vessel, the facility from which he came exploded in a flash of brilliant light. The shockwave threw his head against a wall. By the time of Juren's next memory, he was no longer a servant of darkness but a Jedi youngling.*
Known everywhere else as Topplenaut. You can call me Top for short.
I did see the post you linked, and am sorry to hear that you are leaving but I understand. I myself will be sticking around here, and if you do want to read a summary I am willing to post it for you. Anywho, in case I don't see you again, have a good life!
Known everywhere else as Topplenaut. You can call me Top for short.
I did see the post you linked, and am sorry to hear that you are leaving but I understand. I myself will be sticking around here, and if you do want to read a summary I am willing to post it for you. Anywho, in case I don't see you again, have a good life!
Reading offline downloads of this story will be quite entertaining. Thanks.
I did see the post you linked, and am sorry to hear that you are leaving but I understand. I myself will be sticking around here, and if you do want to read a summary I am willing to post it for you. Anywho, in case I don't see you again, have a good life!
Reading offline downloads of this story will be quite entertaining. Thanks. :)
Wait, what's this about offline downloads? I meant I would type up a "brief" summary and post it in this thread. :P
Known everywhere else as Topplenaut. You can call me Top for short.
Post by TopSecretSpyGuy on Aug 23, 2017 5:45:54 GMT
*At this point Juren's mind was racing, realizing what this all meant. As the vault of forbidden memories forced him to relive his entire life as a Jedi with this new information in mind, he reeled at the realization of how much of his life was lies. His entire past from before he became a Jedi was a lie. His family was a story implanted into his mind as a part of his disguise. His plots, his schemes, his lies, all stemmed from the obsessive need to control everything, a fundamental characteristic of the Sith mindset. The truth he found here was tearing apart his entire life. It was all an illusion and he felt that he could hardly bear it. He must escape from this. The second he tried, he realized he could not. His consciousness had been securely locked inside this horrible part of his mind. As his thoughts turned to further despair, his attention was suddenly caught again by the scenes from his life that were playing around him. He was in his starfighter, on his way to a world covered in a shroud of dark energy. He could feel it. This was an evil place. The memory of his journey here returned to him. As a padawan he had been drawn to it, as if something was calling to him, calling him to return to it. He watched himself as his craft landed, and he walked into the ancient building... the Sith Academy of Alchemy. There he was greeted by... he now realized it was the same being from before. That is why he had recognized her. This being whom he visited as a padawan was the same who had done all of this to him. His recollection of their conversation was foggy. What had occurred here? What dark part of his personality had emerged from its hiding place, just enough to make contact with this dark being? As he wondered he was thrust forward in time. He was experiencing the memory in the first person now, no doubt because this memory was clearer. He was in a diner on Coruscant, sitting in a corner booth... apparently waiting for so- there. There she was, entering the diner. He could see several of the customers become very tense, as if they could sense that something was off in the room. The figure walked over and joined him in the booth. Juren was the first to speak.*
"I must know... why did you do as I asked? Why fulfill a request for me?"
*He remembered being confused, troubled, more at the fact that he had made the request of this strange Sith than at the fact that she had complied without hesitation.*
"Really, Master Cerud. I may be a Sith, but I am not a backstabber."
*The Sith produced a rectangular box of what appeared to be dark and ornately carved stone. She opened it up to reveal a glittering metal weapon, emanating with dark Force energy. It consisted of a small handle, and a long metal chain.*
"This whip is made of Sith steel, a metal formed through Sith alchemy which can slice effortlessly through virtually any material. And..."
*She picked it up, and in an instant it vanished.*
"It is synthweaved. This means that with a mere thought you can will it in and out of existence."
*She made it appear again, and placed it back in the box, which she slid across the table.*
"Use it well."
*Juren remembered picking it up out of the box and watching it vanish into nonexistence in an instant. All he could think of were two things: What power he held in his hand... and what power he held by having the cooperation of one of the three equal Sith leaders at his disposal.*
OOC: The scene in the diner is what I mentioned that actually happened, approximately five years ago, though I have rewritten it slightly for better effect, because the way we RPed back in the day was... silly at times. :P The points of the conversation and the transaction are preserved.
Known everywhere else as Topplenaut. You can call me Top for short.
Post by TopSecretSpyGuy on Sept 25, 2017 5:25:07 GMT
*So this was who he was...? Well it certainly explained a lot. But what now? He had spent his entire remembered life trying running away from the truth about his past, but now here it was in front of him. What did it mean for him? Was his original self, as a young child working for the Sith, any more legitimate than the memories and Jedi role which they had implanted in his mind? Who was he?*
*Another day passed, as he continued to explore, now willingly, the truths about his origin. Unfortunately much of it was missing from his memory. Side effects of Sith experimentation, no doubt. Eventually his thoughts drifted back to the Sith Alchemist, and the synthwoven weapon she had given him. "Use it well," she had told him." Use it well he would.*
"Hello?"
*He called with his mind*
"I can get you out of here."
*He sensed an awakening as his clone emerged from sleep. Shortly, he found himself in a gray expanse, facing the mental image of his clone captor.*
"Do tell."
"You went to my ship, to search for the whip, didn't you?"
"It's as much my ship as it is yours. Unfortunately you were too stupid to make the whip physical before you made impact. It's lost."
"It's not lost. It's in your left hand, I can feel it. You must have picked it up somehow as you searched. The only problem is... you don't have control over it. I do. Only I can bring it back to existence."
*The clone appeared skeptical.*
"And what's the deal you hope to make?"
*Juren smiled*
"No deal whatsoever."
*The clone frowned, wondering what the catch was.*
"Very well... bring it back."
"Oh, I would. The problem is... I can't, because I have no real control. You have full control over your mind. You've blocked me off from contact with the Force, from control of physical limbs... I'm little more than an imaginary friend."
*The clone thought this over.*
"Here's my offer. I will give you enough control to bring the whip back. You will do so. Then you will return the control to me, and in return I will never force you into that room of memories again."
*Juren looked his clone in the eye.*
"Deal."
*In the middle of the night, with the cell completely black, only the infrared cameras could detect the metal chain whip flash into existence in the prisoner's left hand. By the time anyone noticed, it was too late. The prisoner was gone, his Force-cancelling cuffs slashed and the door to his cell cut through by the dark Force weapon. It was a strange night for the guards. The red lights flashed, the alarms blared, and the prisoner vanished. The only things he left behind were broken cuffs, slashed doors and walls, and a message scratched into the metal wall of one of the hallways.*
(Ignore the fact that this is written in the Latin alphabet. It's for effect. :P)
Known everywhere else as Topplenaut. You can call me Top for short.
The evening following the trial, Extor didn't have too much of a chance to think about what had happened. After departing from the courthouse, he returned to the Jedi HQ, where he was obligated to fill out paperwork relating to his position and the case. It was a welcome distraction from the day's events, but he struggled to keep focused regardless. Late that night, he fell asleep, exhausted, over the pages of papers.
The next day, he awoke well into the afternoon. That's funny, he thought. He was generally awake before anyone else, besides the guards, without needing an alarm. Then he remembered the paperwork and realized he had only fallen asleep 2 hours before he would normally have woken up. He completed the paperwork rather quickly and then went to the courthouse to finish up some next-day paperwork needed there. As he happened to be nearby, and it was too late by the point to get started on anything else, he decided to check on Juren. A foolish idea, he realized upon leaving, because of course it was still the fake version, and of course he was still in a coma.
He headed back to the Jedi HQ and settled into his bed again, hoping to right his sleep schedule. But then he realized that he never really had a chance to think over things, and besides, he wasn't all that tired. So he began to ponder.
That man... Fauxren. He is not the real Juren, but wouldn't he think in the same way? The real Juren, where is he now? Would Fauxren have tried to save my life after plotting to destroy it? No, that wasn't possible. He still followed through with his plot. Then... how did Extor find out about Fauxren's plans? Juren? That was the only slightly plausible explanation, but still impossible. And besides, they really were the same person, except the one he hoped to credit was nowhere to be found. And, as he knew, there wasn't anywhere to find him. But then it looped right back to completely illogical. Somehow, Juren gave him that dream. That much he ... no, he only even pretended to be sure of that. He needed to know more. He needed to talk to Fauxren. Somehow.
And that was when the news reached him. Juren--, no, Fauxren had escaped from prison.
"What?? When?? How??" Extor asked the guard sending him the message. "Just after you left. As for how, we were hoping... you might know." The guard showed Extor an image of his name scratched on a wall, the letter X strangely covering the entire name. "I'll be right there." Extor ended the transmission. Oh, well, he thought as he sprinted down the hall to his ship. I wasn't really tired, anyway.
Astro is leaving Astro is everywhere ~Fantasius1111
