➠ II (ACTION).

[notvader]

[ anyone who happens to come across the bridge situated across the river between houses twelve and fifteen this afternoon will find one anakin skywalker tinkering with his right arm -- the false, mechanical one. he's doing so with a small metal file, something that may seem frustrating given the look upon his face, but is actually rather enjoyable

Comments

Action

[silentfirefly]

[Hotaru watches you work on your arm with a look of clear interest. After all, before coming here she never saw anyone even vaguely like her old body. And his arm looks like it's completely robotic, no hint of flesh in the black metal]

... Do you need any help?

Action

[notvader]

[ a bit lost in his work, as he's always been his happiest when fixing things, it seems, his response is delayed. he finishes reconnecting some wires before he looks up at the girl. the fixing has put him in a good mood, so he addresses her with a more friendlier air than usual. ]

I've got it, but thanks.

Action

[silentfirefly]

That's okay.

[She's still looking at your arm with curiosity.] May I ask what happened? You don't have to tell me if it's too personal.

Action

[notvader]

[ it wasn't personal, even if he wished it to be. everyone back home knew that he'd lost the limb to count dooku. at least he had come to terms, by this point, with the fact that his brashness and unwillingness to listen to reason had cost him the arm; if he'd listened to obi-wan and not rushed in, he might've still had it. ]

A fight when I was younger. Got a little too sure of myself and let my guard down.

Action

[silentfirefly]

Ah... But it doesn't hurt, having it? I had... a friend, who when she was younger was very badly injured, when a fire broke out in her father's lab. He... repaired her, [The distaste in her voices is obvious here. Her father would have been better to let her die, and not use her in his plans] but even then, she suffered fits and attacks from the cybertronics.

Action

[notvader]

[ the distaste in her tone is not lost on him, but fortunately he's learned how to be a bit more tactful in the time since he was knighted. needing to set an example for the padawan who was now either master-less or reassigned to another knight had helped a lot with that. ]

It doesn't hurt. The arm was severed by a lightsaber -- an energy weapon. It was cauterized. I was offered a more...realistic prosthesis, but I like machines, so I opted for this and built it myself.

...sorry about your friend. Sometimes cybernetics can be flawed. They haven't been in the Republic, but I know of worlds along the Outer Rim where the imperfections in the technology have lead to problems. It's probably just matter of the technology being perfected where you're from.

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[silentfirefly]

Ah... well... it's good you feel confident with it. My friend... she hated how she looked with them, and always hid her body in long sleeves and pants. She though people would think she was a monster if they saw what she really looked like.

It's okay. She's better now. Though... the Outer Rim? Do you mean the area including Saturn, Neptune, Uranus and Pluto? [After all, they are the "outer solar system" senshi. Can you blame her for naturally associating the two?]

Action

[notvader]

Well, your friend...what happened to her wasn't her fault?

[ he was bad at this, but he was trying. ]

I knew that what cost me my arm was my own mistake, so since it was something I did, it's something I have to live with and there's not much sense in holding it against myself until the end of time. But, your friend had something done to her that wasn't her doing or her choice. If that were me, I'd be pretty upset about it, too. ...but, I'm glad to hear she's gotten better.

[ anakin tilted his head to the side in confusion. those were planets he'd never heard of before. ]

I'm not familiar with those worlds. Tattooine, Geonosis, Mandalore?

Action

[silentfirefly]

No... but her mother died in the fire, so for a long time she blamed herself. Her mother tried to save her, and did, but lost her life in the process.

[He's doing a decent job]

That is... wise. It does not use to blame anyone though, not when it's something that can't be changed. Blaming ourselves only hurts, and makes us depressed, while blaming others only makes us hate them, usually... [She's still not fully sure whether or not she hates her father or simply hates what he did to her. She hopes it's the second one, because, after all he was still her father.]

[She shakes her own head slowly]

I'm afraid I don't know them either. What system? [After all, the Starlights were from a completely different system.] Mine is the Solar System, with the only habitable planet being Earth.