Chapter 3, Part 3

*the scene opens much where the last one left off, with perhaps five minutes having passed. Gonick, Emma, and Saganami walk along the dark surface of the planet, heads swiveling as they look around with their flashlights. Sparc does similarly, but with a palm-sized scanner.*

Gonick: So what are we looking for on this dark and stormy planet, anyway? You said the building would most likely be gone.

Sparc: Well it is. If there were any doubt, it's gone now.

Saganami: ???

Sparc: We would see it.

Saganami: Ah.

Sparc: But, to answer Gonick's question, while the grand, above-ground part of the Library is gone, these kinds of places are often designed with redundant, below-ground information storage.

Gonick: A lonely library on a dark and stormy night? I'm so glad ravens are extinct.... But wait. From what I've heard, the usage of the Force had some kind of spiritual component.

Sparc: So?

Gonick: So I'm saying that it's probably not the kind of thing you can read a few books and pick up. We might be here for a while.

Sparc: Let's hope they have central heating.

*cut to: a shortish while later, a few hundred meters further. Gonick and company are walking and scanning much as before, when suddenly Sparc falls through the ground.*

Sparc, from below: Found something!

*a few minutes have passed, and the others have joined Sparc in the hole, which appears to be a caved-in section of corridor.*

Gonick: You're sure you're okay?

Sparc: Yeah, it's not that far down. It's mostly my pride that's aching.

Emma: Heh. Now he's just moping for sympathy. So, which way?

Sparc: My scanner is showing a large power source about fifty meters to our northwest.

Saganami: Why didn't we pick that up from the surface?

Sparc: These catacombs seem to be shielded.

Emma, wincing: Can you use a different term? 'Catacombs' sounds too creepy.

Sparc: How about 'Happy Halls of Sunshine'?

Emma: ...

Sparc: 'Catacombs' is the correct term. Let's go.

*a few minutes pass uneventfully, as the party heads down the corridor. They reach the end, and there is a door.*

Gonick: Sparc?

Sparc: Yeah, yeah. One second... Ah! Short this circuit here.

*Sparc indicates a point in the wall*

Gonick: Emma? One knife please?

Emma: Why don't you use that mass driver upon which you are so hot?

*Gonick gives her a look, and extends a hand expectantly*

Emma, handing over a knife: Fine. But if you dull it, you're sharpening it.

Gonick: Danke. One moment...

*Gonick fiddles with the knife in a door control conduit. A resounding click is heard, and the door slides open slowly.*

Gonick, with a mockingly deep timbre: OPEN SESAME!

Saganami, seemingly Keanu Reeves: Whoa.

*the now-open door has revealed a room whose vastness makes the Neo Timberwolf Imperial Archive Room look like a dirty latrine in a backwoods bookshack*

Sparc: Now that, *he points at the room* is what I'm talkin' bout.

*scene ends*

*the next scene opens some hours later. Sparc and Gonick have combined their skill sets, and have managed to access the vast data storage system. Sparc has been reading for a good chunk of the intervening time period, as has Gonick. Edward Saganami watches the perimeter, and Emma is napping in a corner.*

Gonick: You know, it's damned creepy.

Sparc: What is?

Gonick: The way she sleeps. Both eyes open, knife in hand.

Sparc: Oh, yeah. Heh. Oh, here's something.

Gonick: Send it over here, we'll take a look.

Sparc: Here ya go.

Gonick: 'Training Archive', huh. Looks promising.

Sparc: Mm. I'd say so.

Gonick: Hm? What's this? Holo-tutor...

*A life-sized hologram of a Twi'lek male appears in the middle of the room. Saganami turns to look, as does Gonick and Sparc. Emma jumps to her feet, knife in hand.*

Gonick: Whoa! Emma! It's okay! It's okay. Jumpy much?

Emma: It's just reflex.

Gonick: I'd call it jumpy.

Emma: I've come to call it 'the difference between life and death'.

Gonick: Whatever.

*the hologram speaks*

Hologram: Language patterns analyzed. Variant of Standard Galactic Basic. Welcome, young Padawans, to the Library of the Jedi Order at Ossus. What knowledge do you seek?

Sparc, typing quickly on a small padd: *aside, to Gonick* Here, say this.

Gonick, shrugging both physically and mentally: We seek knowledge of the Force, in order to preserve peace, and remove the evil taint of the Sith.

Hologram: Then you seek to follow the path of the Jedi?

*Gonick looks askance of Sparc, who steps forwards*

Sparc: We do.

Hologram: All must be sure, for once begun, there can be no turning back.

Saganami: I am certain.

Gonick: As am I.

Emma: Same here. I'm not afraid.

*the door they entered through slams shut, and a spot glows on the floor, and begins to hover. As the party steps onto the newly-formed platform, the hologram fades out, but not before intoning ominously:*

Hologram: You will be. YOU WILL BE.....

*the scene ends as the platform-elevator ascends towards the ceiling*