Public The Domain Of Dreams (Character Introduction)

[Darth Cyphos]

Darth Cyphos was floating in the dark, infinite void, as usual. This was not the void of Space, but the void of Dreams. The Sith Lord had become trapped in this void a very, very long time ago, but that is a story for another time. The one benefit to being a disembodied force-echo trapped in the dreamscape was that Cyphos retained the ability he had developed to enter the dreams of others. Sometimes, he did this out of boredom, but he usually had a specific purpose when he entered a dream. On this particular night, he was entering the dream of a person he had yet to appear to yet, so he was completely unsure of who it was. He was fairly certain that it was the dream of a sentient being, however.

His main goal was to seek information about the current political situation of the Galaxy, as he had not checked that for quite some time. He was also always on the lookout for potential people that he could manipulate for his own agenda, but he rarely found anyone useful in that regard.

He decided that he would assume his default form of a man in a white mask, with a somewhat distorted appearance. As he entered the individual’s dream, he decided that he would see what the person was dreaming about before saying anything to them.

 

[Connie Copal]

Deep within her sleep, Connie imagined a better Galaxy. Not one at peace. Not one without suffering, or hunger, or illness. A better Galaxy... where her talents had been truly recognised. Where her family had finally given her the credit she truly deserved for carrying their asses the last couple of years. Where her teachers recognised that mechanical knowledge was far more important than analysing dusty Galactic literature. And one where that cute boy she really liked in her Systemics class actually noticed her.

In fact, in this dream Galaxy, she was being presented an award. What award? Who cares! In the confines of the dream, she didn't actually quite remember what she'd done to deserve something like that. It was obviously to recognise her supreme talents in the field of... something. Fixing up speeder bikes and datapads. The specifics didn't matter. What mattered was that Connie was finally getting the recognition she knew she deserved.

Inside that dream, Connie lingered in a gorgeous room. She knew she was near the Senate hall, on Coruscant. The planet looked all beautiful and twinkly from the window. Full of life, gleaming and exciting and perfect. No devastation or bombing or recent attacks... why had those words in particular come to mind? Couldn't be anything important.

Instead, Connie waited to be called by the Chancellor of the Alliance. The actual Chancellor. Beyond what she'd picked up in civics class, or watching the news on the Holonet, she knew vaguely little of how the actual government was structured. Something about senators or representatives and lots of arguing. But she knew the Chancellor. And finally now, in her dream, Connie would be properly acknowledged for her singular, amazing talent.

Darth Cyphos

 

[Darth Cyphos]

As he entered the dream, Darth Cyphos found himself sitting in a swiveling armchair made of what looked like silver. He was looking out of a large, octagonal window, down to a sprawling city, with more airspeeders, starships, and people than he could count. The room was lit with a distinctive, dark green light which seemed to be emanating from the floor, which was made of a material similar to glass. On one of the dark grey walls was an oil painting of an ancient ruin of a fortress, and on the other was a bronze plaque with the words: “Office Of Chancellor Cyphos”

Darth Cyphos read the plaque, and thought to himself. “So, this dream involves the Chancellor somehow, but he does not seem to be the one dreaming the dream. Interesting.” The Lord Of Delirium sat up from the armchair, and walked over to a small, nearby table and picked up a note which read: “9:15 am: Meeting with Connapolli Copal”. After reading the note, he looked down at his watch, which read “9:10”.

Putting down the note, Darth Cyphos also noticed a small button labeled “Call waiting room”. Once it was 9:15, he supposed he would press the button and ask for Connapolli Copal, who was presumably the person dreaming the dream. In the meantime, he would try to think of some questions to ask. He figured that the most obvious one would be to ask about the Bryn’adûl. He would also have to ask about the Jedi and the Sith as usual. And of course about his old protege.

After five minutes had elapsed, Darth Cyphos pressed the “Call waiting room” button, and a rather high pitched voice responded “Chancellor? Should I send the person in the waiting room to your office?” Darth Cyphos hesitated for an instant and then said “Yes, please send them here.”

Connie Copal

 

[Connie Copal]

"The Chancellor will see you now."

The words came out of the secretary's mouth and Connie leaped out of her seat. Finally, the Chancellor himself! With a big grin, she nodded in reply and approached the heavy, gilded doors. Where else would the Chancellor be but beyond a pair of super cool doors? The aide nodded and waved towards the doors, which opened automatically.

"Chancellor Cyphos is ready for you," the aide said happily, which made Connie pause. Chancellor Cyphos sounded a little strange. A little too alliterative... though she couldn't talk, really. Something tensed inside her as her vision went wobbly, as her mind dealt with the uncertainty. Fortunately, the world asserted itself again and the inconsitences were buried beneath teenage confidence.

Stepping forwards, Connie stared in awe at the Chancellor. He... wasn't what she was expecting... but he totally was, right? Because Cyphos was the Chancellor in her dream, so of course she knew what he looked like. A dreamy smile spread across her face as she gave a polite bow. Staring at that featureless mask with her sparkling blue eyes.

"Chancellor, it's like... such an honour!" Connie told him, almost quivering with excitement. Excitement for what? Who knew? Clearly she'd done something amazing. "I never thought I'd ever get to meet the Chancellor of the whole Alliance!" In the dream, Connie's natural spikiness and suspicion had been filed away by achieving the smallest recognition beyond her family.

"Is... something wrong, Chancellor?"

Darth Cyphos

 

[Darth Cyphos]

Connie Copal

The doors to Darth Cyphos’ office opened with a soft, mechanical whir. In stepped Connapolli Copal. She was a human girl, seemingly somewhere between the ages of 15 and 20 and she was clearly quite exited to see him. She said it was an honor to see him, and asked if something was wrong, to which he replied in his rather deep voice “No, nothing is wrong, Ms. Copal.

Darth Cyphos decided that he would assume a polite, but authoritative tone for his questioning, befitting his role in the dream as the Chancellor. He decided that he should ask the dreamer about herself first. “Because you seem to know who I am, Mrs. Copal, could you please tell me a little bit about yourself?” he asked.

 

[Connie Copal]

The Chancellor's voice was deep, echoing through her like nothing she'd heard before. Something like the sternest teacher voice she could imagine, but even more commanding. Made sense, she guessed. What was the Chancellor but a teacher with an unruly class? The voice set her a little more at ease, everything conforming to her idea of what the Chancellor should be... aside from the mask.

"Didn't you already...?" Connie asked him, a small frown on her face. Didn't he know who she was? Why was she here? Hadn't he heard about that uh, thing she'd done? The reason why she was here? Come to think of it, even she didn't remember, but she was fifteen, what was his excuse?

"Uh I'm sorry, sir I mean uh... of course." She had to remember to be polite. This wasn't just some teacher's aide or principal she could argue with. Cyphos was in charge of everything.

"Well, I'm fifteen, from Coronet City, that's on Corellia," she added quickly as if he wouldn't know. "My family own a repair shop, my mom works the accounts, my dad fixes all kinds of stuff, he served in the GDF before I was born. Or whatever it was before then. I don't know much history." She shrugged after that statement. History was old stuff and therefore uninteresting. The future was exciting and fluid and there for the taking.

"But I'm the best one. Everyone says so. At repairing stuff, I mean. Totally a natural. Tech just like, gets me." A harmless boast from a girl with talent. And pride to match. "Is that what you wanted to know... your Chancellor-ship?" There was another wobble in her vision, another tug at the dream-logic.

If he doesn't know who I am...

"Why am I here, Mr. Chancellor? If you don't know me? I thought your aide might've said something..."

Darth Cyphos

 

[Darth Cyphos]

Connie Copal

Darth Cyphos listened to the responses to his questions, and in response, he said:
“I have not been to Corellia before myself, but I consider it a valuable and valued planet in the Alliance. And work in the GDF is very invaluable to our continued community and prosperity. Working in repair is also valuable, I imagine that with all of the machinery on Corellia, things must break apart sometimes.”
Connapolli’s last question gave Darth Cyphos some pause however. He had been rather careless in not giving her a good excuse for being here, and while dreaming people generally did not catch on to logical gaps in their dreams, he should have still prepared for that possibility. He decided he would just have to make something up quickly, and continued talking. “The reason you are here is because as the Chancellor, I am naturally not in a good position to view the opinions of the common citizens from ground level. I need to talk to everyday people to make decisions sometimes, so every now and then, I have a randomly picked citizen of the Alliance give me a sort of “person off the street view” of my regime.” Darth Cyphos knew it was hardly a completely flawless excuse, but he figured that it would suffice long enough for him to get the information he needed, and then to leave the dream and be dismissed as nothing more than a “crumb of underdone Corellian Potato”.
“My first real question is this: If anything, what do you feel unsafe about in your life?” Darth Cyphos asked, beginning the “interview”.