Radiant Dawn

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"Let's say that they require no emotional input whatsoever. These refugees are hungry; they deserve that we cook something for them"

Sure, Jessica may not be as good a cook as Varindar was, then again, Varindar was both a hotel owner (albeit more of a steward owner by now, since she now owns two properties) and an executive chef. And yet, she knew that [member="Corsica Cinto"] wasn't one for learning new powers that had clear alignment requirements on their use. Jedi use the Force for defense and knowledge, all right, but most Jedi would show the more combat-oriented use of a Force-power over its non-combat use when training new students in more advanced Force-powers like pyro/cryo, she thought, while whipping up a can of instant soup as well as a cauldron to cook said soup in. Plus she must assume that the student has no prior knowledge of thermodynamics until proven otherwise; she would cherish her time with those few paddies that could prove otherwise. She starts pouring the cold soup in the cauldron, standing by to make a demonstration if required, while also remaining mindful of keeping another can in reserve for Corsica to try it on at a later stage.

"Pyrokinesis is about making molecules dance, with the dancing tempo being its temperature. Sometimes, you may feel that an object's temperature stops heating up for a while, but when it starts heating up again, the item is typically in a different phase. This is due to the latent energy of a phase transition. Do you want a demonstration?"

 

[Jsc]

Corsica leaned closer to observe,

"Oh. Yes. Please. By all means, go ahead."

To be honest this was the first time Cinto had ever heard the word "Pyrokinesis". In language, mind you. Before today it hadn't even occurred to her that such a thing existed. So when Jess started talking about changing something phase? Cinto naturally wondered if she meant phases of matter. Such as solid, liquid, and gas. ...Or? Perhaps she meant phases by way of transition? Like, as if the soup would suddenly change from water into wine. She just wasn't quite sure. But, the name "Pyrokinesis" did seem to imply fire, right? So. Perhaps Jess was just about to cauldron up a giant flame of lava, or something? Good grief!

"Um. Yes. A demonstration would be a good idea, I think. Before my imagination gets the better of me. Hehe."

And... No lava please.

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"Here phase simply means phase of matter. You have to understand that cryokinesis is just the reverse process, and we'll get to that later" she told Corsica before the deminstration began.

Jessica could sense that [member="Corsica Cinto"] was worried about her turning the cauldron into lava; however, turning the cauldron into lava would require a lot more energy than needed to prepare soup and, at that point, there would be no soup left to serve and the soup would simply be vapor in the camp's air. So she simply concentrated in calculating the amount of energy to give the soup molecules prior to actually injecting that amount of thermal energy into it, under the form of Force-energy (i.e. ichor), while making an allowance for heat losses in the cauldron. The resulting soup was a lot hotter than before, while still remaining liquid; it was just hot enough to be close to boiling but still just fine for most refugees to eat. Once the temperature was just right with the soup, she began to distribute it to the refugees, and then, once all the soup has been distributed, she starts pouring a new can of soup into the cauldron but, this time around, it's for Corsica to attempt heating up using pyrokinesis. Plus, since she was confident Corsica paid attention during the demonstration...

"Now that the first batch of soup has been distributed, you may now attempt heating out the soup using pyrokinesis"

 

[Jsc]

Corsica had to admit. Never in her whole life had she ever thought she would be heating up soup with the Force. Indeed, such a mundane task seemed almost blasphemous when compared against the galaxy spanning miracles of the Force. Like God picking his nose or the Sith Emperor chewing on bubblegum. ...Still? I suppose she had asked for this. And if learning to be a Jedi meant heating up soup then I suppose she had learned a little bit more about the Jedi religion too.

Well. At least pyrokinesis didn't involve lava. Woo.

"Sure. I'll give it a try. No problem."

Corsica once again closed her eyes and began to concentrate. Letting herself bath in the golden light of the Force. Letting her mind's eye grasp at the infinite. When her mind was ready she then reached out with an open hand. Focusing all her strength on the cauldron below. Luckily, pyrokinesis was not an alignment-based ability. So her full power in the Gray could be brought to bear.

A mere moment later the soup rose to a boil and then subsided slowly into a simmer. Corsica had succeeded.

"Well." She opened her eyes and withdrew her hand, "That wasn't so hard after all. Hehe."

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"The whole premise of the Trial of Insight is that, although Jedi can defeat formidable opponents and perform miracles with the Force, they can be undone by much more mundane means. That is the reason why I made you learn pyro/cryo by using the Force for mundane means, even though it may, in the long run, have the side effect of increasing one's dependence on the Force"

Until Corsica's Force-wavefunction can be brought into the light range, that is, the expectation value of her alignment operator can be brought above 1/3, given her limitations, Electric Judgment is out of the question, Jessica thought, while realizing that Electric Judgment and Force-lightning were two sides of the electric coin. Although she didn't feel that the powdered ice cream would last that long in the desert heat of this region of Ringo, not at this time of the day and year, she would still think it is the best instrument for teaching the next power. So she poured powdered ice cream into a bowl, which is separate from the cauldron being previously used for the soup (for hygiene reasons), while also remaining mindful of the need for the refugees to eat: there just wasn't enough soup in both cauldrons to feed everyone, and surely some of the refugees would want some ice cream. Now, as much as she would have liked to have the student proceed without a demonstration, since pyrokinesis is an invertible Force-operation, she feels she would like to ask [member="Corsica Cinto"] first.

"As I said previously, cryokinesis is the reverse process of pyrokinesis. Do you still want a demonstration? And later you can then calm down molecules so as to make the powdered ice cream freeze"

 

[Jsc]

Corsica took a step back and held up both hands. Perhaps now was a good time to collect herself.

"Actually. If you don't mind. I do believe the time for mundane tricks and cantrips has past."

She looked around with a wave towards the refugees. Noting their plight and priorities.

"These people call to you [member="Jessica Med-Beq"] . If they require your assistance? Then, by all means. Help them. Not me."

Cinto stood up and retrieved her glass helm. Already she knew what she had to do.

"I came here to ask how to be a Jedi. You showed me what that meant. It means helping people. When I asked for a lesson? You gave me two. When these people needed food? You used all of your abilities to provide for them. And when I failed to heal this man? You showed me that it wasn't my Force power that needed strengthening. It was my charity and lack of selflessness that did."

Corsica was beginning to understand. Being a Jedi wasn't about being a powerful magi or about being respected and feared by others. It was about helping other people. With every talent you have.

"Thank you for the lesson Jess. You are truly a wise and skilled teacher. For today I have learned more than just how to heat up soup. Today I learned that I need to recreate my priorities."

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"You're lucky, in a sense, in that not every Jedi master would have been as wise. But there is still much to learn"

I didn't even have a chance to teach her about how denominations were not the same as the alignments typically attached to them, and that Dark Jedi were a good example of that. And also Light Sith, the least common of the gang, were a thing unlike what many would say in Sith-land, Jessica thought, while realizing that, for some reason, maybe [member="Corsica Cinto"]'s mental endurance wasn't the best, maybe it was just information overload or some other such thing. Then again, Corsica must have realized that not everyone could be like Jessica, and, in the meantime, Jessica was simply willing to calm down the molecules inside the powdered ice cream, but not without first calculating the energy that needed to be taken out in her mind. However, it also meant that she needed her computational power at a high intensity for longer periods than she would have liked. But once that was done, she started distributing the ice cream before Corsica left the refugee camp, and then she would try to get to heal the broken bone in that refugee that Corsica proved unable to heal earlier.

"May your next lesson be productive, and, of course, may the Force be with you"

 

[Jsc]

Corsica gave [member="Jessica Med-Beq"] a great big hug. Then smiled and absconded towards her ship. Already she had many things to do.

"And Force be with you Jessica." She whispered back. For it was time for another adventure.