The next morning, bright and early at 7AM, I found myself in a strange classroom with other players, surprisingly. What shocked me most about it was how few of us there were. With there already being millions of players within the first few days of launch, there were only 8 of us here. I presumed that there were other groups that have and will be going through this, but it was still shocking.
At the front of the room was a massive display that was divided into 20 rectangles on screen. Each one had one of our pictures on it, our names, a straight line and a few metrics that I wasn't sure of the purpose of, and an ID number on the bottom of the tile.
Beneath the display was a group of people. Three of them were doctors or something of the sort. They were wearing lab coats. There were also another three people wearing military uniforms. Two of them were armed with a blaster rifle while the other had a blaster pistol. The one with the pistol had attire and pins that made him appear to be a higher rank than the others. The other two must have been his escort.
Around the classroom were a bunch of chairs, if I could even call them that. They looked like something you'd get strapped into and tortured in. There was also a helmet-like piece of equipment on a table next to each chair. Each chair was slightly reclined.
None of the players, including myself, were talking. I guessed that they had the same reason as I did; no one knew what we were going to be doing here. I decided I needed to break the ice and talk to someone.
Looking around, the players were from various races, not just humans. Most of them, however, were humans. As I was scanning the room, I noticed a girl that made me pause. The only word I could use to describe her was "gorgeous." She had wavy brown hair that hung down and draped over her shoulder. Her size was quite small, being about 5'4, but her curves were the exact opposite. She also had the perfect face with super soft features, a small nose, and light brown, almost hazel, eyes.
I shrugged, making my way over there. It's just a game right? How much could the word "no" hurt? I decided to start with something simple. "Hey, I'm Soryn. What's your name?"
She looked back at me, remaining silent for a few seconds as she appeared to evaluate me. I was able to notice the most miniscule of shrugs as she apparently decided to talk to me. "Hi Soryn, I'm Violet."
I wore a warm smile as I concealed the internal laughter I had from her shrug. "You enjoying the journey thus far?"
Violet nodded, flipping her hair with her left hand. "I have actually. Aside from being hit on by almost every low life I've come across, it's been an awesome experience." She then looked towards my waist. "Wait, a blaster?! How did you get that?!"
I chuckled, waving my hips a bit to show it off. "I got lucky during a quest. It's been a wild ride so far and I don't even know how I ended up here. Speaking of that, any idea why we were chosen for this?"
She shrugged, glancing towards the front of the room. "No idea, but maybe it has something to do with the officer training. I guess we'll find…"
As if acting on queue, the door in the back of the room slid open, interrupting her statement. Walking through the door were two very familiar figures. It was Master Yolar and his padawan.
(Yolar and his padawan are the Jedi from the Pyke quest. It was retconned in case you missed it.)
As Yolar and his padawan walked through the room, he noticed me. He merely spared me a smile and a nod. His padawan was much more excited and waved with a bright smile. She appeared to be in a good mood this morning. I replied with a smiling nod while waving once.
Violet didn't miss this interaction as she immediately started poking my shoulder. "Soryn, Soryn, Soryn…"
I rolled my eyes at her. "What?"
She had sparkling eyes. "Do you know them?"
I smirked and nodded. I was in! "Yeah, I met them during that same quest. As I said, a lot happened." I had to remain mysterious. How else could I bag a bi… achem, interest this beautiful woman?
Her mouth was slightly agape as she got excited. "That's amazing! Not a single other player has talked to a Jedi yet! They all get ignored!"
I shrugged. "It wasn't that big of a deal."
Her expression appeared to go through every stage of grief as she thought of something. "Did you ask about becoming a Jedi?"
I sighed, remembering Yolar's answer. The statement, "the time is not right" echoed in my head. "Yeah, I don't think it's going to be as easy as showing up. There has to be some trigger and I will figure it out no matter how long it takes."
She wore a downcast expression. "Damn, I was hoping to become like Yoda. He's an example for short people everywhere."
I raised my brow at her. "Do you really think you'll be able to jump around like that?"
She giggled. "Don't judge a book by its cover. I am a gymnast."
Before I could reply, an authoritative voice quite literally filled the room, drowning out any conversation that was occurring. "Good morning, trainees. Welcome to the expedited officer training program."
Looking towards the front of the room, I noticed that it was the high ranking military person that was speaking. He was currently standing in front of the desk with his hands behind his back. "You've all been chosen among the many travelers that have enlisted. Each and every one of you has a significantly higher intellectual ability than the other travelers. This is one of the most important qualities of a leader."
He paused for a moment and then continued. "This course will take place over the next five days, 3 hours each morning starting at 0700. I expect you all to be on time and to follow orders. If you can do this, then this will be easy. Don't make this complicated. The benefits far exceed the drawbacks, I guarantee it. Overseeing this course will be myself, General Kroos, and Master Jedi Yolar." He gestured towards Master Yolar. "I will now turn this over to Doctor Sulara to describe how this will work."
[Quest Received]
[Expedited Officer Training Course]
[Certification]
[While enlisting for the Republic Army, they noticed your high intellectual abilities and thus placed you in a special program for officers. Over the next five days, participate in the training and pass the exam. WARNING: Being late for the course will incur penalties and outright skipping a class will result in automatic failure]
[+5000 exp, Tactician Professional Certification, rank of Captain in the Republic Army, +100 reputation with Old Republic]
A woman walked out from behind the desk, replacing General Kroos. "Thank you, General. I'm sure that all of you have noticed the chairs that are around the room. As opposed to a typical program where you would be lectured for hours over the course of years, the information will be directly inserted into your brain over a three hour time period each day. Through our analysis, we have found that travelers, such as yourselves, have much more durable brains. It can handle this type of thing without risk. Using the head gear over the next four days, several years worth of information shall be imparted upon you. An exam will be held on the fifth day."
She gestured towards Master Yolar. "In the unlikely case of any mishaps, Master Jedi Yolar will be present. I have been working with him over the past few months to develop this technology and test it so he is quite capable of relieving any and all mental stress that may occur."
Sulara then pointed towards the display behind her. "The chairs are organized as shown on the screen. Please take your seat and we can get started."
I looked towards Violet and nodded. "See you in a bit."
She smiled and then walked towards her seat which was on the other side of the room. As she did so, a door towards the front of the lecture hall opened up. A team of what I presumed to be medical professionals walked through. There were five of them.
I found my way to my seat and sat down. The seat was surprisingly comfortable. The padding on it wasn't too soft nor too hard and the slight recline made me feel relaxed.
After waiting for about a minute, the General came to the middle of the room followed by Master Yolar. "As I said before, this is Master Jedi Yolar. After these five days are done, you will have two days to get your affairs in order before you join the deployment effort. The time and place of your summons shall be provided to you following your successful completion of the course. Follow the instructions of the technicians these next few days and there will be no issues. I'll see you all in five days."
General Kroos then turned and left the room with his escort. Almost immediately, a technician came over to me. She was a tall, Theelin female. She looked almost human aside from the pink skin and protrusions on the corners of her forehead. She also had naturally red hair.
She smiled at me and then looked down at her datapad. "Good morning, Soryn. I am Omira and I'll be taking care of you. Are you comfortable in the chair? This is integral to the process."
I nodded, smiling at her. "Yes, it is fine."
Omira nodded and then took a strap out of her pocket. "Don't worry, this is just to make sure you don't fall out of the chair. It will go around your waist."
I nodded and remained silent as she wrapped the strap around my waist, tightening it like it was a belt. She then stood up and grabbed the head-gear. "Now I just need to put this on your head and you'll be all set. Once we begin, you will be put into a sleep-like state. A variety of images and recordings may be visible to you. Just try to take in whatever you can. While the information will all be taken into your memory, we have found that it is beneficial for you to comprehend some of it personally. Do you have any questions?"
This was a bit concerning. They were going to be putting stuff inside my head. What if it manipulates my brain or some weird shit like that? "This isn't gonna make me some obedient slave, right?"
She giggled and shook her head. "No, no. Even if we wanted to, this technology is not capable of such a thing. Regardless, that is entirely illegal in the Republic. Anything else?"
I nodded, sighing in relief. "It won't hurt, right?"
Omira shook her head again. "Aside from a light headache, which is not guaranteed, there is no risk involved in this process. The headache results from your brain processing the information that was fed to it. This is why we limit the procedure to three hours a day. If you do get the headache, just drink some water and sit down for a little while. It should go away by itself within a half hour."
I nodded, starting to think that I was nervous for nothing. "Alright, I think that's it."
She smiled and then placed the head-gear on. She pulled the strap that was on it under my chin and fastened it. It felt like a bicycle helmet. "I am going to activate the head-gear now."
I nodded but before I could even finish that, my vision went black. It was like when I had just started playing; I couldn't feel my body.