Day 30: Patient Library (Fourth Shift)

[jei]

While he waited for his bulletin board correspondant, Farfarello perused the library's offerings once more. There was no sign of any of the books he'd requested in the suggestion box but he wasn't very suprised that this was the case--even if, by some chance, the Head Doctor actually intended to grant any of the reasonable requests it still would

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[31st_of_china]

This would've been a prime place to check for Hakkai. Books, quiet, relatively organized; more likely to appeal to him than the Arts and Crafts room.

Except for the fact that there was no Hakkai. Somehow it didn't surprise the monk. Unlike Kenren, Sanzo wasn't going to harbor any kind of optimism (or desperate hope) that Hakkai was still here, even as he kept an eye out for the man.

Sanzo sat down on one of the couches, absently picking up a random book.

But then again, he'd kept searching for Goku with the same stubborness, even when he wasn't certain what happened to the monkey. Goku had shown up in the end, but he hadn't had any proof if he was alive or dead while he'd been searching. Sanzo had just kept on going with the assumption that he was alive, and only backed by that slip of tongue from that doctor one night.

Kenren irritated him, but at least on this account, Sanzo couldn't argue with him. There could still be a remote chance to find Hakkai.

[qui_gonjinn]

The act of cleansing himself had been refreshing, to say the least. His hair was still wet, but already on the way to drying. His connection the Force felt slightly stronger in response, as if reacting to the simple pleasure of cleaning the grime from his body, and his determination to know more about Earth stronger. There was still much research that had to be done on this unknown planet.

Rounding the corner of the shelves, a few books in his hands, Qui-Gon paused as he took in Sanzo. The young man sat on one of the couches, looking at a book but not very involved with it - he didn't seem to be reading, just looking at it. Qui-Gon approached the couch and sat down gently, keeping a respectful distance. Close enough to show that he was interested in talking, but not enough to invade whatever sense of personal space Earthians might have.

"I'm afraid our conversation in the cafeteria was interrupted," Qui-Gon said mildly.

[31st_of_china]

A gift for understatement, yet it never seemed to come off as stupid or sarcastic. Qui-Gon would have been an interesting person to meet, on the journey West.

As it stood now, this was a conversation he did want to continue. This "Force" was intriguing enough, and there was that whole question how he could just influence a person like that. He hadn't even chanted a mantra or anything.

There was a lot to Qui-Gon, and somehow he got the feeling that he hadn't even scratched the surface.

Sanzo set the book aside.

"You wanted to know about that woman," hestarted. There wasn't that much to say about her: after that one hectic night in the medwing and the morning after, the priest hadn't seen her since.

[qui_gonjinn]

Qui-Gon folded his hands over the book in his lap. He would have to take it back to his room and read it over dinner. "Yes, I did. Anything you could tell me would be helpful."

If there were others from the Republic here, he would have to know, and find out as much as possible. Who they were, where they were from, what they did here, and what had happened to them. Especially if they were Jedi - a Jedi would probably sense the same things about this place that he did, and recognize Martin Landel as the threat against the Force that he truly was. It would not be in character for a Jedi to not feel something had to be done.

[31st_of_china]

Sanzo took a moment to think back to that night. It seemed like months ago, but luckily for Qui-Gon, Sanzo didn't have the short attention span like the ape.

"We were down in the medwing weeks ago," he began. "We ran into some of the nurses down there. She came stumbling out right around then and made a beeline for me, babbling something like 'Master Jedi'."

He could still remember that look in her drug-crazed eyes when she'd approached him. That same conviction was still there the next morning, even when she'd shaken off most of the drugs.

"She seemed pretty dead-set on it." Sanzo finshed. "I didn't find out what that even was until she explained it and their role in this 'Republic' the next morning.

[qui_gonjinn]

"And she said specifically she was a Jedi herself?" Qui-Gon asked. "What exactly did she tell you about the Republic, Jedi and the Force?"

It wasn't easy to make a Jedi break down. For one to be "babbling"...well, it was rather worrying just thinking about it. There were probably a number of factors, like just time overall, or the possibility that she hadn't been able to adjust to her disappearing connection with the Force. But being a Jedi wasn't simply defined by a strong connection to the Force. It was also knowing that it would be there regardless. It was about understanding one's place in the universe and knowing that you would always be a part of the greater Force even if you couldn't reach it anymore.

Something that Qui-Gon thought he was better understanding the longer he stayed in Landels.

[31st_of_china]

"No, she didn't."

She'd gone off on that tangent about the Jedi and Republic, and said just about everything but something on herself. Now that he thought back to it, she'd just about said jackshit about that subject.

"I'm guessing that knowledge of the Jedi isn't exactly hidden, so her knowing about it wouldn't be anything that special." Sanzo said. "But she said that she could see I was 'glowing', and that she could see it."

If he'd been anything but a Sanzo priest, it might have sounded like a load of bull...if Goku hadn't already made similar claims. Retard or not at times, there was always something different about him, but considering the origins, it wasn't nearly that surprising that he could sense something like that.

But having a complete stranger like Chusa sensing it? It was something worth noting.

[qui_gonjinn]

Qui-Gon looked thoughtful for a moment, absently stroking his beard with one hand. "It's possible she was a Force Sensitive, if not an actual Jedi."

So what exactly had she seen? It was common for almost all beings to exude a little glow in the Force. Those strong in the Force tended to have a stronger presence, which is what she might have sensed...which would indicate then that Sanzo might be a Force Sensitive himself. Qui-Gon glanced at Sanzo, stretching out with his senses.

Yes, there was indeed a "glow" about the man, a pulsing aura in the Force that was fairly strong. It reminded him of a Jedi, and yet was different. There were emotions coloring it that certainly weren't very Jedi-like.

[31st_of_china]

What was the difference between a "sensitive" and a Jedi? It sounded like there was some sort of ranking to the belief system, but not one he was familiar with - at least, not like the ones back in China.

Qui-Gon had fallen silent, probably thinking over what Sanzo had told him. The presence of someone from the same world could be comforting, but unless it was an ally, Sanzo didn't see how it would do much good.

The other patient was looking at him: not quite a stare, but it damn well felt like it. Qui-Gon wasn't just staring at his face or the chakra like most people did: it almost felt like he was looking right past that and right inside him.

"What are you looking at?" Sanzo asked warily.

[qui_gonjinn]

There was no sense skipping around the question:

"I was looking at this 'glow' she mentioned," Qui-Gon said frankly. "I can see why she might have mistaken you for a Jedi: you appear to share qualities with one, in some aspects."

Well, in that Sanzo seemed to have a strong Force signature. Not the emotions coloring it. But, to use Renji's comparison earlier, he did seem rather strong in "spirit", to use the Earthian term for the Force. As far as Qui-Gon could tell, whatever powers Martin Landel had as a living hole in the Force, Sanzo here didn't share them. The Force around him wasn't being corrupted, but was instead vibrant like Obi-Wan's.

But where Obi-Wan was deliberate and reigned in his emotions, Sanzo didn't seem to bother: he embraced his, a thread of open impatience and anger running through the Earthian. It wasn't aimed necessarily at Qui-Gon. That much he could tell; it was something else, something possibly personal.

[31st_of_china]

Sanzo snorted. "I don't know about that. Where I come from, priests might have some powers, but we don't have the ability to just drain an emotion out of a person, for starters."

Freeze a person in their tracks was do-able. So was summoning the powers of heaven and hell through a sutra. It just required some chanting, a lot of control and will.

But he'd never heard of any monk possessing a hint of the abilities that Qui-Gon had displayed. He hadn't even heard the other man chant or even whisper it; it had been almost instant, and silent. Whatever he was doing, he was using a different method, and possibly a far different mindset to even achieve it.

[qui_gonjinn]

So it did appear that there was possibly a kind of Force-Sensitive order here on Earth; the way that Sanzo spoke of it, the priests were gifted with other than human "powers".

"Jedi are capable of using the Force to sometimes influence others," Qui-Gon said. "It's possible to directly influence the weak-willed. In your case, I merely used the Force to try to siphon off that anger."

Sanzo wasn't weak-willed and Qui-Gon hadn't actively tried to influence him; not in the traditional sense, anyway. He was curious as to what kind of powers the Earthian priests had; it was entirely possible they too used the Force, approaching it differently than a Jedi would. If that was the case, then there was possibly something he could learn here. One of his goals was to learn more about the Force in order to try to better re-connect to it. Perhaps an "alien" look at it was just what they needed.

[31st_of_china]

That was enough to get Sanzo back on edge, no matter that tranquil air about Qui-Gon.

Even if he was of the opinion that most of the population were bumbling idiots (and that was when he was in a charitable mood), using abilities to influence like that was out of the question. For one, most people did enough damage to themselves and karma had a way of coming back on that, but on the other hand...

It sounded like an abuse of power, plain and simple. What would Qui-Gon's powers have done if the monk had been any less stubborn.

"So you can influence the 'weak-willed'..." Sanzo leaned back. "Chusa had suggested you Jedi were guardians, but that doesn't sound very fitting at all, if that's what your kind do."

[qui_gonjinn]

Qui-Gon didn't deny that the idea alone of influencing others wasn't exactly ethically sound - one could always argue that some circumstances did call for it, but to invade another being's privacy, no matter the reasons, was always treading in dangerous territory.

"We rarely do it," Qui-Gon said, conceding Sanzo's point. "Sometimes we must. But a proper Jedi won't abuse this ability; if he or she uses it, it will be because there was no other choice. It is not about any kind of personal gain or for power."

Obi-Wan would argue that Qui-Gon himself was walking that line about Force persuasion, although Qui-Gon didn't quite agree. That time in the bongo-bongo with Jar-Jar? Had been similar to what he'd done with Sanzo. Only where Jar-Jar probably would've broken something in his panicked flailing, Sanzo might have angered the radio-man enough to get that feline on them. Or, at the very least, they would have gone weaponless.

Qui-Gon glanced out across the library as he recited the Jedi Code: "There is no emotion; there is peace. There

[31st_of_china]

So basically it was like a loaded gun. You didn't go threatening innocents (Gojyo and the chimp didn't necessarily count as that; they deserved it the majority of the time) just because you had the power to do it. Guns were protection, and like these abilities, not brandished about for shits and giggles.

It made sense. Qui-Gon didn't dance around the issue either, just acknowledged that there was a potential for good and harm from the ability. That in itself spoke of maturity, and a sense that there might be something beyond black and white.

Sanzo straightened at the apparent code. There was something very familiar about it, even if it was the first time he'd ever heard those exact words.

The core, if he interpreted it correctly, was non-attachment.

"Muchimotsu". Sanzo said. "Maybe we do actually have something in common."

[qui_gonjinn]

"What is 'michimotsu'?" Qui-Gon asked. To Sanzo, it appeared to be something similar to the Jedi Code.

We. So he probably was a priest, if that "we" was anything to go by. It would explain his abnormally strong Force signature, like and yet unlike a Jedi at the same time. It wasn't that uncommon in the galaxy for there to be civilizations to have their own groups similar to the Jedi - Force Sensitives that carried out a certain purpose, fitting in a special niche reserved for them in society. Some were neutral, like the Jedi. Others were decidedly more specialized, some even occupying positions of power.

Simply being attuned to the Force didn't mean you were automatically barred from abusing that power. He had to wonder just how this Earthian priest group fitted into things.