Subject 37
The Cracked Mirror
Species: Human
Age: Young Adult
Height: 1.77m
Weight: 65kg
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Red
Strengths and Weaknesses:
[+]Clever: Rose is nothing if not clever. Over the years she has developed a keen sense of awareness, being capable of taking in information and turning it to her advantage in a matter of moments. She is not the smartest person in the room, but perhaps the one most capable of turning a situation around for her own benefit.
[+]Persistent: As one might expect from the daughter of Alric Kuhn, Rose is incredibly persistent in any given tasks she chooses to undertake. She has a great amount of mental fortitude, and once she sets herself to a task she rarely does not complete it. Rose is a hard worker, and this reflects in almost everything she does, often showing most often in projects she is especially passionate about.
[-]Alcohol Allergy: Rose is deathly allergic to Alcohol. Though a single sip won’t kill her, it will cause her a great amount of pain. Similarly alcohol on her skin causes her to break out in a wild rash. If she does consume too much of the solution, she will of course die unless epinephrine is given to her in time.
[-]Hot Head: Despite all the time that has passed and all that she has learned, Rose can still be a bit of a hot head. She is quick to anger when a situation goes off the rails, and although she’s learned to channel her rage, she generally tends to let it out on something within her near vicinity. This is not to say that Rose often feels indignant, more than her outrage is more palpable than with other people.
Biography:
Coruscant
Core-TV Station
Rose sat quietly in a small but comfortable chair, her legs crossed and her face illuminated by scorchingly bright TV lights. Across from her sat a mild mannered woman who appeared to be in her mid fifties. She had a stern look about her, but in the same way that someone might expect from a grandmother. The woman shifted slightly and whispered something to Rose, the young woman nodding in response as introduction music began to play.
“Good evening people of The Core, and thank you for joining us tonight on Thirty Minutes. As always I’m your host Bridget Cileen and tonight we have with us Rose Kuhn, daughter of Titan of Industry Alric Kuhn and sister to the Empress of Teta, Lily Kuhn.”
Rose inclined her head slightly, and then looked at the Camera. “Hello.”
“Miss Kuhn, to sta-”
“Please, Bridget, call me Rose.”
The older woman smiled slightly.
“Rose then, to start, would it be wrong to say that you’re the black sheep of your family? What I mean is that compared to the rest of your family your own position in life is far less dramatic. Your father founded and has owned several large corporations, your mother was a Sith Lord of some repute, your sister is the Empress of a planet, and even your step-mother is considered to be a household name.”
“I don’t think ‘black sheep’ is the right word for it Bridget. It’s true I don’t have the same acclaim as the rest of my family, but none of them hold that against me. My family has always been very supportive of whatever I want to do. My aspirations have changed a great deal over the last few years and my family has always been there to support whatever I wish to do.”
“I see, and how have they changed?”
“When I was a little girl I tended to take after my mother. My father was there of course, but my Mother was my idle. Many people would think that ridiculous of course, especially now with how the Sith are seen, but...well in the end she was my mother, regardless of whatever else she was called or did in her lifetime. I loved and idolized her, I wanted to be just like her. I intended to take after her, even after my mother and father disappeared.” There was a pause, though it was quickly filled.
“For those unaware of what happened could you explain?”
“My Father was once head of Titan Industries, a corporation that worked closely with the One Sith. When My sister and I turned eighteen my father, fearing for his family's safety, abandoned the company and took my mother into hiding with him.”
“Why didn’t he take you?”
Rose opened her mouth to speak, then closed it, thinking for a second. “I’ve never asked him, in truth both my Sister and I felt great resentment when they left, but regardless I assume because he thought we were safe. Both of us had just become adults, we both had a path in life, and he likely didn’t want to interrupt that path. In a funny way he did, at least for me, but I suspect that he didn’t intend it.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Initially, my sister and I were rather distraught of course. The disappearance of our parents hit us hard, but...well anger is a good motivator. I pushed myself harder than I had any right to, and of course I made questionable choices. I joined the Sith, began to study and even train under them.” Her eyes scanned the audience members who were all dead silent.
“That’s a controversial thing to admit.”
“It is, but I paid the consequence for my actions a long time ago.”
“How did you pay?”
“It’s not secret that my mother was a Sith Lord, it’s also no secret that my sister is capable of using the force. It should be no surprise really, that I was also once a force user.”
“Implying that you are not anymore?”
Rose inclined her head. “Yes. That was the price I paid. I lost my connection to the force.”
“Could you explain that a bit more? I don’t think many people actually know how that is significant.”
“Of course. The Force, to a Jedi, Sith, or anyone really, is like an extension of themselves. It’s like...It’s a mixture of another sense combined with an appendage. With the force you can run farther, see better, lift things with your mind. You can do unimaginable things, good or bad. Losing it...losing it is like waking up blind without any arms. Like a piece of yourself was ripped out and never replaced.”
There were some murmurs in the audience and Rose finished speaking, though she couldn’t tell what they were saying.
“That’s difficult to imagine.” Bridget's voice was tinged with a hint of sympathy.
“I don’t ask for sympathy, nor do I want it. Losing the force was terrible, yes, but I’m still alive. Initially I didn’t think that way of course. When I woke up in that hospital bed I wanted to die. I was in so much pain, I felt blind, deaf, broken. I didn’t know what to do with myself and in all honesty, I thought several times about simply ending it.” Rose paused for a moment, then continued. “My sister was the one that got me eventually. Before she was Empress of course. She took me out of the Hospital and convinced me to go back home.”
“And where is home?”
“Empress Teta of course. My family has an Estate there. It was destroyed during the war, though my father rebuilt it before I was born. That’s where Lily and I grew up.”
“I see, and is that when your father returned? After your stay in the hospital.”
Rose inclined her head again. “Yes, not long after. My sister and I were staying at the Estate when he found us. She was helping me recover and I was...well I was just trying to take things day by day.”
“How did you take his return?”
“It was...It was a mixed bag of feelings. I was glad he was back of course, furious that he ever left, and...well there was the news he brought."
“The death of your mother?”
Rose only nodded her head.
“How did that affect you?”
“Oddly. That’s the best way to put it. I was devastated of course, but in a weird way it gave me purpose. It was sort of the straw that broke the Bantha’s back, kind of like...like it pushed me so far into depression that I fell out of it? I’m sure a psychologist would say that better or tell me that’s not how it works, but...well here I am.” Rose shrugged. “I left the same night my father came back. I said goodbye to my sister, and I just...went.”
She smiled slightly, as if it was a good memory.
“Which leads us to who you are now.”
“I was, and am very privileged. I don’t think I could ever argue that. My family is very wealthy, and I’ve benefitted greatly from that wealth. When I left, I left to explore, find myself. A bit of a cliche, but it’s true. I took some equipment from my father’s company, a stash of credits, and I left. I spent a year just...going. I jumped from planet to planet, system to system, and just explored what I could. I met amazing people, found planets no one had been to in centuries, saw things that made me think that maybe...just maybe I didn’t need the force to really live.” She smiled into the camera for half a moment. “I took that time to find who I was, forgive my father, and come to terms with the death of my mother.”
“It is also where you found your passion.” Bridgett pointed out with a smile.
“Yes.” Rose agreed. “Exploration. It’s not an uncommon one, I think. There’s plenty of spacers, explorers, and adventurers who do exactly what I do every day, but that doesn’t make it any less important.”
“You sound almost enamored with the idea.”
“That’s because I am. The Galaxy is a big place. Sentient beings have existed in this galaxy for millions of years, we’ve traveled the stars for thousands, and yet we haven’t even explored a tenth of a tenth of what’s out there. There are billions of unexplored stars, hundreds of thousands of planets that we’ve never even seen. This galaxy has so much potential, so much that we haven’t even thought of yet.”
“Many would argue that everything worth finding has already been found, what would you say to them?”
“I would point out the obvious. New things are beings discovered every day. New Hyperspace Routes, planets, star systems, everything you can imagine. We have long range scanners, we have hyperspace, we have telescopes, but space...the Galaxy is so vastly huge that we can’t help but miss things. There’s entire civilizations out there that we haven’t even met yet, technologies we’ve never seen, things that we have to find, study, and document. That’s ultimately what the GUIDE is trying to do.”
“What is the GUIDE?”
“GUIDE is the organization that I work for. To put it most simply, they are a resource, to be used by anyone and everyone for learning more about the Galaxy. They hire people like me, and other experts, to explore, research, and catalogue as much data as possible. Everything from how an Exogorth moves to how the Rishi Maze came to be. The GUIDE seeks to spread scientific and cultural knowledge to those who need it as independently and unbiased as possible.”
Bridget smiled slightly. “Is that why you’re here?”
“In essence, yes.” Rose returned the smile. “The GUIDE can do a lot of good in the galaxy, but it can only do it if people use it, volunteer for the organization, and contribute their own knowledge to it.”
“Well, after seeing your own passion I’m sure that more than a few people watching this are inspired to take action. I’m afraid that’s all we have time for however, Thank you very much for joining me tonight, Rose.”
“Thank you for having me, Bridget.”
The music began to blare quietly in the background.
“This has been Thirty Minutes with Rose Kuhn, Cartographer for The GUIDE.”
