| Author |
Topic:
Witness (OCs w/ R2-D2 cameo; far future) Movie Title Challenge
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lazykbys
Registered:
Oct '04
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Date Posted:
3/13/07 7:43am
Subject:
Witness (OCs w/ R2-D2 cameo; far future) Movie Title Challenge
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Title: Witness
Author: lazykbys
Timeframe: c. 1,000 ABY
Characters: OCs, R2-D2 (cameo)
Genre: far future
Keywords:
Summary: Vic Hetar tries to access a thousand-year-old droid's memory banks.
Notes: Written for the Movie Title Challenge.
Witness
"So," Niko Tundrey said, putting as much disgust in that one syllable as she could, "this is what we risked our lives for?"
Vic Hetar frowned at his partner's lack of enthusiasm. "Hey, don't knock it. This could be our ticket to fame and fortune."
The this in question was roughly cylindrical in shape, roughly a meter high and half a meter wide. It was coated with dirt, grime, and an artificially engineered fungus that could digest permasteel. However, from the looks of things it had bitten off more than it could chew with this . . . this.
Niko's brows rose in what was becoming a very familiar gesture. "Fame and fortune. Right. Stupid of me to forget. And just how is this going to accomplish that? Do you rub it and make a wish when the demon comes out?"
"No."
"Or is it going to turn into a princess when you kiss it?"
Possibly the only reason Vic didn't respond with scathing sarcasm was because he was too busy scanning the object's insides with a hand scanner. After a few more tries to get him to acknowledge her continued presence, she gave up and turned in for the night.
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
The following morning, she was awakened in a most unwelcome manner by Vic. "The motivator was the key all along," he announced triumphantly. "Not the power coupling."
Niko looked at the chrono. She'd been asleep for five hours at the very most. Her internal timekeeper had yet to adjust to Coruscant's time - which was just as well because Vic seemed to adopt a three-hundred-hour day when he was neck-deep in a pet project, and kept forgetting that most people needed to sleep.
"Vic? What in all the hells combined are you talking about?"
He replied with a surprised blink. Obviously, he had also forgotten that neither of them could use telepathy. His face twisted with concentration as he unraveled his train of thought, then finally came up with: "The droid, of course. I got it working!"
Niko closed her eyes. A dozen phrases emerged from the less respectable bits of her past, all of them clamoring for usage. She settled on an exasperated sigh, instead.
"Vic, it's five in the morning. It's a time most civilized beings spend in bed, doing a thing called sleep. So if you don't mind, I'm going to go back to doing just that. Got that?"
"Oh, all right," he said petulantly. "I just thought you might be interested."
Her eyes snapped open and bracketed his face like a pair of gunsights. "Interested? Interested? Vic, there's only one person I know who would be excited to hear that a rusty piece of metal had come back from the Maker's side to spread the holy beep. Who could it be, I wonder? Hint number one: he's in this room. Hint number two: he's in this room. Hint number three -"
Vic held his hands up in mock surrender. "All right, all right. I get the point."
"Good."
"But still . . . would you be willing to talk about this over breakfast and a mug of caf?"
He was gone by the time Niko had found something to throw at him.
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
Later that day - much later - Niko joined him in the cargo hold, where he was cursing at the cylinder with words she hadn't thought he knew.
"Any luck?" she asked.
"One step forward, two steps back," Vic growled. "And please, you don't have to sound so cheerful."
"Sorry. But I thought it would be simple once you got it working. I mean, the caf machine is smarter that, right?"
"Yes, it is." He glared at the readings on his diagnostic scanner. "But that doesn't make thing simpler. The programming codes they used back then were thrown out when quantum circuitry became affordable. And that was just the beginning. And, it looks like whoever programmed this droid used infinite encryption."
"Which is?"
"Do you want details?"
"No thanks, I have stuff to do before the universe ends."
He grinned. "That's it, actually. IE was a code that would take till the end of time to slice - by the computers they had back in those days, that is."
"And today's computers would take . . . ?"
"Five thousand years, give or take."
Niko snorted. "It's a good thing you don't have any appointments, then. But seriously - I think you're a bit obsessed, Vic. I mean, breaking stellar quarantine, landing on Coruscant, fending off the wildlife, and now this. All this for a Jedi who's been dead the past millennia."
"Not a Jedi, thank you very much. The Jedi. I'm sure that, if we find out who Luke Skywalker really was, the Holy Order will be united once more."
"And you intend to find out from . . . this? I'm pretty sure it was required by law to have droids' memories erased once a year, before the Artificial Sentients Act was passed."
"There was no such law. It was just common practice. And all the records agree that Luke Skywalker's droid never had that happen to it."
Niko gave the droid a dubious glance. "Even if that was true, I don't think it would remember anything after all these years."
"Don't worry, it will."
"And which Luke Skywalker are you talking about, anyway? Last I heard, some hermit was all the rage in the Deep Core Confederation. You want to guess what his name was?"
"Niko?"
"Yes, Vic?"
"Go away."
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
The Pride of Nal Hutta was a small ship, barely capable of carrying four average-sized people on a lengthy journey. It was usually big enough for both of them, though, and it was even possible to avoid each other's company for days at a time they cooperated.
Vic was rarely cooperative in that respect, but Niko had had most of the ship to herself for the past week while he transformed the cargo hold into a bizarre shrine of technology and optimism.
"Any progress?" she asked, trying not to wonder when he'd last used the 'fresher.
"Some," he said. "I'm pretty sure I got his core systems working. I just can't get him to talk in a language my translator program can handle."
"What do you mean? It's Binary, isn't it?"
"Well, yes, but - look, the Binary droids use today isn't the same Binary they spoke a century ago. Which isn't the same as the one from the century before that. They - and I mean droids - are always coming up with tricks to make less mean more."
"And that means?"
"It means I don't know if this droid is telling me the story of his life or reciting the Coruscant Comm Listing."
"Still not giving up?"
"Not a chance."
"At least take a shower, then."
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
It was now three days later, and despair had replaced optimism in Vic's shrine.
"It doesn't remember," he said as he sat with his back against the wall, his head in his hands. "Not a thing about Luke Skywalker."
"You mean its memory was wiped, after all?"
"No. I mean . . . I should have known better, that's all. It's a thousand-year-old droid. With thousand-year-old memory banks. Even if it was working at peak capacity, it couldn't remember every single thing that happened. So it kept what it thought it needed and deleted the rest."
"Oh." There wasn't much more she could say.
"The worst thing is, it still remembers a bit. Most of it's coherent, too." There was a pause as Vic sniffed. "I think I could have lived with it if it didn't."
Niko sat down beside him and wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulder. It must have come as quite a shock to realize that a droid could have a different set of priorities.
"You want to know what it remembers?"
"Uh, sure. What?"
"Something about another droid."
He got up slowly and made his way to a pile of equipment. A minute or so of searching produced an old, worn out datapad.
"I recorded this yesterday. Listen -"
The voice that emerged was easily identified as Vic's translator program. But there was something about it that made it seem sepulchral.
"I was there," it said, "when they made C-3PO into a free individual. It was the proudest day of my entire existence . . ."
= the end =
-----signature-----
I would greatly appreciate any constructive criticism you can give me. Please feel free to PM me with your comments. . by the same author (click and scroll dowwwn): http://boards.theforce.net/m/b1/17609715/r17736763
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VaderLVR64
Title: Fan Fic Manager Digging out from Fay
Registered:
Feb '04
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Date Posted:
3/13/07 8:07am
Subject:
RE: Witness (OCs w/ R2-D2 cameo; far future) Movie Title Challenge
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I can certainly see why this one won a prize! 
-----signature-----
If you have to choose between tears and laughter, remember that laughter burns more calories.
They call me NANA Vader.
At least she doesn't lack confidence...
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Kidan
Title: TFN EU Staff
Registered:
Jul '03
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Date Posted:
3/13/07 8:08am
Subject:
RE: Witness (OCs w/ R2-D2 cameo; far future) Movie Title Challenge
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That was interesting.
The OC's were distinct and fun, and Vic's tinkering with the droid was great.
And that last line! Beautiful!!!!
Realy great job lazykbys!
-----signature-----
You sadistic Yank!! - McEwok No Krakana - http://nokrakana.wrighton.org Believe in the Constitution? Ron Paul '08
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jedi_of_ennth
Registered:
Mar '05
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Date Posted:
3/13/07 9:52am
Subject:
RE: Witness (OCs w/ R2-D2 cameo; far future) Movie Title Challenge
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I love this entry. The OCs were great. I loved the banter between them; it really gave the piece a very "Star Wars" feel. 
"I was there," it said, "when they made C-3PO into a free individual. It was the proudest day of my entire existence . . ."
Hehe, great ending.
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"I'm your friend. I love you."
-- Zekk to Jaina, LotF: Fury
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Healer_Leona
Registered:
Jul '00
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Date Posted:
3/14/07 3:28am
Subject:
RE: Witness (OCs w/ R2-D2 cameo; far future) Movie Title Challenge
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You've got a way with bringing OC's to life. Bravo on this wonderful entry.
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I want to swim away but don't know how
Sometimes it feels just like I'm falling in the ocean
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UnderCoverJedi
Registered:
Jul '06
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Date Posted:
3/14/07 9:51am
Subject:
RE: Witness (OCs w/ R2-D2 cameo; far future) Movie Title Challenge
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I can certainly see why this was noticed! A great piece of work.
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Darth_Marrs
Registered:
Feb '06
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Date Posted:
3/14/07 11:03am
Subject:
RE: Witness (OCs w/ R2-D2 cameo; far future) Movie Title Challenge
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One of the better short stories I've read in the SW universe, fanfic or profic. Very well done!
-----signature-----
"Spock!" "Yes Captain!" "Be one with the horse." "Yes, Captain."
Gods of Dark and Light
Legacy of the Red Sun
Heaven Falls: A Jedi On Earth
Blue Sun Down
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Darth Muis
Registered:
Mar '00
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Date Posted:
3/14/07 11:08am
Subject:
RE: Witness (OCs w/ R2-D2 cameo; far future) Movie Title Challenge
- Date Edited:
3/14/07 11:09am (1 edits total)
Edited By:
Darth Muis
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"I was there," it said, "when they made C-3PO into a free individual. It was the proudest day of my entire existence . . ."
Goosebumps... and I'm not kidding. Beautiful. R2 must have really loved 3PO - if droids are even capable of such a thing. 
Great OC's as well! Brilliant story all around! Truly brilliant!
-----signature-----
Talon Intelligence Squadron: Book Three! http://boards.theforce.net/Message.aspx?topic=28952461 Tales from the Intelligence Gala! (TIS spin-off!) http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/28600431 "Once a Talon, always a Talon."
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