First Reply Open Door Policy

[Auteme]

Office of the Senator of Epoch | Senate Building, Coruscant​

Auteme rarely slept well these days, but last night's rest was especially poor. She'd stayed up late, discussing with her inner circle the implications of the SIA director's recent demonstration, and how to proceed in the coming weeks when the policy came up in the Senate proper. Being privy to an off-the-books kill team wasn't good for her sleep.

Perav, her aide, opened the door to the meeting room. "Senator, your guest is here." The Zabrak was a magician with her schedule, but she'd only managed to delay the first meeting of the day by an hour and a half. Enough time for the both of them to look as though they had gotten enough rest. "Shall I send them in?"

"Yes. Yes... and who is that again?"

 

[Arlo Renard]

"Kai Bamarri."

A scrawny teenager with wild hair entered the room. Judging by the NJO jacket he wore, he was clearly a Padawan, though not one Auteme would recognize on sight.

Kai glanced first at the departing aide who had announced his name, before his cautious gaze darted toward the Senator. <First things first, I prefer to communicate telepathically,> he said, his tone and expression very serious, almost grave. <It's not that I'm trying to be secretive or anything, I just don't like talking. Will that be a problem?>

Auteme​

 

[Auteme]

Arlo Renard ​

Auteme shifted slightly, not allowing herself to fully wince at the discomfort. When was the last time she'd spoken to someone telepathically? She wasn't opposed to it, but she found herself guarding her mind more closely. She opened her mental 'mouth', as though to speak, but switched course and spoke aloud.

"That's fine, M- Kai." She didn't recognize the face or the name, but he was obviously a Jedi, if one of the more loosely-defined ones of the New Jedi Order. For a moment she wondered if it was something serious. Probably not -- otherwise there would've been a message sent ahead, and she'd be meeting with Dagon or Asmundr. Something about him reminded her of Dagon. Maybe he was his student? No, she thought, they just looked alike. Still, there was this sense of familiarity...

In any case, this was obviously something minor or personal. She exhaled, then stepped away from the desk at the far end of the room, in favor of the couches flanking a coffee table at the center. "Please, take a seat," she gestured to the couch opposite. "How can I help you, Kai?"

 

[Arlo Renard]

Kai’s shoulders sagged in relief at her acceptance, and he obediently sat on the couch. His posture was awkward, as if he were uncomfortable in his own skin—which wasn’t that unusual in an adolescent boy, but maybe his discomfort went a little further than skin deep.

It never went away, that sense of not quite belonging.

<Is it true that you’re going to be Chancellor soon?> he asked, leaning forward earnestly to hear her answer. <Because if you are, then maybe you can help me. Help my homeworld, actually. They’re right on the border of the Maw’s territory, next to Selvaris, and—it’s really, really important that the planet doesn’t get conquered by them.>

Auteme​

 

[Auteme]

Arlo Renard
​

"Er..." Auteme held her tongue, not wanting to dissuade him. Her curiosity pulled her forward. "Okay. Where are you from? Why is it important?"

 

[Arlo Renard]

<Chaldea. The planet is called Chaldea.> Kai became more animated, so caught up in the direction the conversation was going that he failed to notice Auteme hadn’t answered his question.

<There are these rocks called Chaldean marble in a place called Bamarre, and when the weather conditions are just right, a living being can be born from the marble. It only happens once every few hundred years. The being is called a Bamarri, and there’s nothing else like them in all the universe.

<But if the Maw takes Chaldea, they’ll destroy the environment that allows the Bamarri to exist. And if that happens—>

He broke off, seeming to find the consequences too horrible and tragic to even think about. <If that happens, it would be really really bad. Not just genocide, but the complete extinction of a species. There’d be only one Bamarri left in the whole galaxy, forever.

<So, when you become Chancellor—there’s stuff you can do to stop that from happening, right?>

Auteme​

 

[Auteme]

Arlo Renard
​

Auteme made a quick mental calculation -- how long she'd have to nap if she got this kid out right now, versus the benefits of actually taking the time to educate him.

"Okay. You're a Jedi, right? Who's your master? Do you have one?"

 

[Arlo Renard]

<Yeah, I—> She fired off another, more sensitive question before he could get another word in. Kai seemed to shrink in on himself, mumbling his answer. <No. I don’t have a master.>

Why was she asking that? What did that have to do with anything?

Auteme​

 

[Auteme]

Arlo Renard
​

"Hrm. Okay. Cool. Yep," she clapped her hands together, "let's do this."

Yet another reminder of how the galaxy's educational institutions were failing its students.

"So, let's start it off -- I don't know if I'm going to be Chancellor. I don't. It might not happen. It probably will. Am I extremely pleased to say that it probably will? Of course. I am extraordinarily happy that I am seen as the favorite, and I am grateful for the opportunities it will provide. However, nothing is certain. Elections can swing suddenly." Who was she kidding? She had the backing of two previous chancellors, the vote of a majority of the Senate, and her opposition had yet to put up any serious candidate to challenge her. Still, she needed to get that notion of a pre-determined election out of Kai's head, in case they were both disappointed.

"Second -- yeah. Yeah, genocide is bad. I've already promised that I'm going to- no, not just fight, but destroy the Maw. They're bad. They're evil. They're corrosive, they're reactionary. They shouldn't exist. And I don't want them to take any more of our space or our planets or our people. So yeah, I'm going to stop them, and do everything in my power to ensure no one else is hurt by them.

"That being said, when you come in here and ask me to do 'stuff' if I'm elected, that's kind of, like, not super useful. I'm just gonna say it -- I'm not a military expert. Neither are you. I don't know how the war is going to shape out, even if I take the reins at the top. We definitely are capable of defeating the Maw, but there's still a chance we lose. Or, a chance that we lose even a little bit more before we start to win. I don't know what's going to happen.

"Since I'm not a military expert, I'm going to trust the people who know their stuff on the subject, the generals and admirals and soldiers and sailors who have been out there fighting all this time. The sense I get from you is that you're extremely anxious to protect Chaldea. And yeah, I probably would be too, if that was my homeworld. I could be like Tithe, and order around all our fleets to protect a few planets and systems that he likes, but from what I understand, that's not especially viable as a military strategy. I won't do that if it means sacrificing so many other worlds; no one life is worth more than another, no matter how rare. The Maw have committed enough genocide, and I will stop them, but I can guarantee nothing. We are still in a precarious state.

"I would also not be so quick to doubt Chaldea's strength. I've been there -- the Force is just... overflowing. I doubt the Maw will go around breaking every rock, or stopping every lightning strike."

She sighed. She felt scattered, tired; she didn't know if she was getting through.

 

[Arlo Renard]

From the outset, Kai’s shoulders only grew more hunched. Her condescending tone, the too-broad empathy he sensed within her, the lack of understanding—he may have been ignorant of how the Alliance’s political system worked, but was he so wrong to have attempted to reach the zenith of the hierarchy before she became untouchable? Was Auteme not set to become the woman behind the curtain, controlling everything from the top down?

She certainly acted as if the election was already decided. The odds were all in her favor.

As she paused to sigh, he finally had a chance to speak. <That’s why I came here. I’m trying to tell you that an evacuation of the planet wouldn’t be enough. The marble would still be left behind, and once the Maw finds out what it is—>

But she just kept talking. Not listening. He was repeating himself anyway.

Maybe he was asking for too much. For them to single out Chaldea as uniquely in need of salvation among countless other systems was selfish. Okay, so he wouldn’t ask for her to save the entire world. But the Bamarri were still important. They still had just as much value as any other life, even if they had yet to be born.

<I don’t want to be the last of my kind,> he murmured, looking up at her with his head slightly bowed. <I may be the only advocate my species has right now, but that doesn’t mean I’m insignificant. Keep that in mind.>

Standing up, he paused for a moment, narrowing his eyes. <I can see now why you stopped being a Jedi. You’re not a very nice person.>

He went to leave.

Auteme​

 

[Auteme]

Arlo Renard
​

When Kai cut in after her pause, she fell silent and let him speak. It seemed like he’d already made up his mind; she made no attempt to stop him from leaving. Once he was gone, she laid down and took a nap on the couch.