driftfleet | dreams in digital

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dreams in digital

[ Calibration Rooms ]
( for A-M characters )

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ROOMS BY CHARACTER

A - C

Connor

D - F

G - I

Haggar

J - M

Lup

(last updated: 1/21/19)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Upon entering the room, you'll find yourself in what's quite clearly an expansive bedroom, pristine and furnished with intricately carved furniture as priceless as they are old. Despite the antique appearance of the furniture, it's clear the building this room belongs to is an advanced one, if the control panel, as well as it may blend in, is anything to go by, for one.

On one side of the room, there's a balcony looking out at a tall, snow-capped peak, towering above a picturesque lake, the faint outline of something that may or may not be a moon behind it. Listening closely, you can make out both the sounds of a city just out of sight, and the cries of some unseen and likely unrecognizable flying animals. But just as attention-grabbing may be the vines of flowers growing up and around the poles in the balcony itself. They're closed at the moment, but if you watch them long enough, the daylight "outside" changing to dusk, the flowers will open, revealing their bright orange luminescent blossoms. Resting outside on the balcony, looking perhaps a bit out of place among the expensive furnishings and fabrics of the room, is a small box-shaped object attached to a belt. A field generator, for anyone who might be aware of such things, but unfortunately, no matter how you try, it won't activate.

To the other side, in contrast to the high tech nature of the building is a set of heavy wooden doors, which open to a hallway that's a complete mismatch with both architectural styles. Cold, dimly lit, and with an unsettling air of danger, careful listening might result in catching the sound of blasters from some not so distant fight, and careful inspection might lead to a datachip hidden off to the side of the hallway, in the shadows of one of the wall segments. But continuing down the hallway, one will find it ends in a similarly dimly lit, unsettling chamber. There isn't much to it, save for a smoking hole in the center, and a floating black sphere lingering in the back of the room.

There are no barriers or anything preventing you from exploring any part of this area, but if it's Leia you want, she'll be found in the first area, rather than the hallway or chamber behind it.]

(As far as content warnings go: possibilities exist for death, torture, planetary destruction, standard warnings for star wars beyond the surface. If there's anything you want to avoid, pm me and we can work it out!)

[ For Han, who's dimly aware that he's been traveling... or dreaming of traveling... or something, it's kind of refreshing to be somewhere with a ring of familiarity, even if it isn't familiar.

He can't place where he is immediately, but somehow it feels closer to home than anywhere he's been with the Fleet. Han doesn't know enough about antiques to say anything definitive about them except he knows who he'd call to fence them. Not that he's actually thinking of stealing them or anything, it's just an offhand reaction. But the control panels, the little bits of normal technology for a room, put him at ease. Any planet in the galaxy is as good as home, after all.

Everything gets a little less comfortable, though, when he crosses to the balcony and looks out across the landscape, taking in the sky. And what is definitely not a moon, orbiting a planet that doesn't have a moon. The knowledge sits like a lump of stone in his chest, and he reaches to steady himself on one of the columns, brushing the vines with his hand. ]

[Brushing up against the vines, Han is treated to a memory taking place in an outdoor garden sitting area, clearly something connected on a different wing of the building he appears to be in now, full of blooming Candlewick flowers, among other species. Seated on a bench in the garden is a woman, hair elaborately braided and impeccably dressed, with a faint glow emanating from her torso. Next to her stands a much younger Leia, engaged in a serious conversation about a visit she had taken to Naboo, although much of it is inaudible. Their conversation continues for a while, before the woman stands and embraces Leia as the memory fades.]

[ Of course he recognizes Leia--even to himself he's tempted to make a joke about how she's not much taller now than then--considering the surroundings. He'd be a lot more surprised if someone else was dreaming of Alderaan. The other woman's identity is easy enough to guess-- he'd not concerned himself much with various planets' royalty and he probably wouldn't be able to pick the Queen out of a crowd of women with complicated hairstyles, but he gets it.

Bittersweet, even for Han-- because he knows what's left of all this, now.

The memory fades and leaves him on her balcony, the Death Star looming in the distance.
He's not sure what to do next-- Han isn't really great about boundaries, but he feels weird snooping around. ]

Leia?

[ Maybe she'll hear him, if she's... somehow somewhere? Wherever they are, they can't really be here. ]

[She's around, and she does hear him. She hadn't paid him much mind when he showed up--however he showed up--instead occupying herself looking around a room she hadn't seen or let herself think much of in years. Her room. There are details about it she can't fully remember, and things she's sure aren't here even in her mental recreation of what it was like. And it bothers her.

She's busy looking at some other part of the room, trying to decide whether it's really how things were or whether it's something her mind filled in for her, as if she'd be able to figure that out, when Han calls out. She doesn't really move from her spot, but she does turn to look over at him.]

This was my room. Or close enough to it, anyway.

[Obvious, perhaps, but more than enough to show she's aware and listening.]

[ These places that aren't places feel like dreams; or maybe it's because he's so painfully conscious that he can't really be where he is. How he missed her, he's not sure, but he's definitely comforted to find her.

Had to be her, of course. But there's a difference between knowing it and finding her here. ]

I figured. [ He looks her over quickly, vaguely worried. ]

[His worry isn't so concealed that Leia can't pick up on it, and if she thinks about it, she can understand why he'd be concerned. It's not something she talks much about, and the disaster is something much nearer to Han's time than her own.

But as is typical with her, instead of immediately confronting and worrying about anything that might be upsetting her, she latches on to whatever Han might be thinking.]

Is everything alright?

Yeah. Of course.

[ Except, you know, not at all. ]

I mean-- where do you think we are, really?

[She believes that about as much as Han himself believes everything is alright. She raises an eyebrow, hopefully prompting a different answer from him, but that's as far as she pushes it for now. Instead, she decides to answer his question, barely masking any sadness in her tone.]

Anywhere but here. It's not as if it's possible anymore.

[ It's not exactly a topic he's eager to explore. At this point, the distance from the destruction of Alderaan is largely due to being here. He's got no idea how she's coping with it. How anyone could. Han's faithfulness to Corellia is pretty low-key-- they make the best starships and brandy, and otherwise he doesn't really need to go home again-- but even then, he's not sure the sight of it blown to asteroids and ashes wouldn't drive him insane.

So, you know, this whole intense reminder is probably not ideal for Leia, who loved her world, who lost her family. ]

Have you been-- other places? I feel like I'm having other people's dreams.

[She copes with anger and immersing herself in work as long as possible. Anything she can do to try and not think about Alderaan or anyone or anything left behind there as often as she can, which really doesn't work out well even in the best of times. Here? Well, it's impossible to cope with anything when you're hit with a manifestation of something that shouldn't be there.

But rather than racking her brain over details that she may or may not remember about the palace at Aldera, or trying to figure out what's missing from the room, Leia decides to move over toward the balcony where Han is. It's easier to have a conversation that way.]

I've been in a few, yes. Haven't stumbled into one of yours yet, though.

Me, neither.

[ Which is a good thing in his opinion; all these glimpses into others' minds, friends or strangers, it's uncomfortable. Han isn't sure he likes the idea of people knowing him without his knowledge. And there's plenty in his past he'd rather not have to explain. ]

[Rather than wondering what Han would show if their positions were reversed, Leia decides a change in subject would be better.]

Should I ask what you've seen?

[Since at this point, there's no point worrying about what may or may not have been shared. At least this way she can explain what was going on, if needed.]

[ He shakes his head a little. ]

Nothing to worry about.

[ Pausing, he considers it. He doesn't want to rub salt in her loss, but he doesn't want her think he's keeping anything from her. ]

Just... your mother.

[Rather than viewing it as rubbing salt in anything, she appreciates him being honest and actually answering her question. The subject is a hard one, sure, but if he had attempted to avoid the question, that would've just been insulting.]

I miss her.

[Which, obvious, but she feels the need to say it anyway.]

You've never said much about your own family.

[ It's not the direction he was expecting the conversation to go. ]

There's not much to say,

[ he answers, not defensive. Genuinely surprised, because he hasn't really thought about them in ages. ]

[He's seen her mother, in a way, despite her not talking much about her life on Alderaan before everything. So this, Leia thinks, is only fair.]

Would you tell me about them?

[ He would so rather not. But the way she looks at him, she makes it hard to say no. And-- well. It is fair, in a way. He looks up, past her. ]

My mother died young, [ he says, which is all he can say really. ] My dad worked at the shipyards. I dunno, we didn't get along.

[She watches Han as he answers, more surprised that he agreed to and did answer than she is by his answer itself. It makes sense with what she knows about him. If this had happened in a different way, with a less serious subject leading up to it, she might have tried to lighten the subject, but with this, it doesn't feel right to try that.]

I was adopted, you know. It's not anything we ever hid on Alderaan or from the rest of the galaxy. I don't know much about my birth mother either.

[By "much" she means nothing at all. But it doesn't bother her that much; she never really thought to ask if her parents knew anything before.]

[ He can't remember if he knew, though really if he didn't it's because Alderaanian politics weren't much of a concern to him. Not much money to be made here, in his line of work.

He's relieved that she doesn't ask any more. Talking about his parents feels weird and ill-fitting. Not that he hates them, or anything so dramatic, it just feels too far away. The truth is Han cares immensely about family, in his own way; he just tends to define it differently, putting less weight on the accident of where and to whom you're born. People who do nothing but argue about bloodlines are usually looking to be given something they can't earn on their own.

There are, in the end, much more dangerous questions she could have asked. People who could have been family, or were, for a while, people who shaped him more than the parents he was born to. ]

Does that bother you?

[She shakes her head. She doesn't know how it is for anyone else who was adopted or whether her thoughts on it are normal at all. Her situation in general, she's aware, is one that very few people who were adopted can relate to, as well. But for her?]

Not particularly. I never thought to ask much about her, or what my parents may have known. I was happy with them, so I didn't think there was much reason to try and find out more.

[All she knew was her mother had been sad and beautiful, and that she was a victim of the war. To her, it seemed like it would be difficult, if not impossible, to find out much about her given just that.]

Is that odd?

[ This is not the kind of thing people usually ask Han. ]

I don't think so. They were good to you, that's enough.

[She's not sure what sort of answer she expected out of him, but she'll take that one as a positive one. She smiles softly, just barely, the memories now more bittersweet than anything, especially with the added confusion of being somewhere that resembles her memories of home so clearly on top of it all.]

They were. I miss them both a lot.

I know, [ he says softly. What else can he say? There's nothing he can say to make it better.

A little tentative, he reaches to take her hands in his. He's never sure how far to push that kind of thing-- not when whatever is between them is so uneven-- but it seems like a fair moment to try and be comforting with something other than empty words. ]

[It's unexpected but far from unwelcome, even with the differences in time between them. Leia closes her hands around his, silent for a moment as she accepts his comfort while lost in her own memories.]

Did you ever get a chance to visit?

[Alderaan, naturally. He answered before, and while they're both being open, she's interested to see just what she can learn about him from before they met. There's a lot she doesn't know.]

Leia Organa | Star Wars

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