D3 EM: Droid Meditation

[The SCaT Droid]

Finally after so long, SCaT stumbles upon a Jedi, or at least a training one. And it was in one of those forcey places where revelations happen for those important folks. So taking in what it has learned, SCaT does something it hasn't been built for yet again: sit with feet touching each other and knees on the ground, and not in storage mode.

[Soleene Stryss]

Today seemed like a day where the weather wasn't going to get too ornery. However, Soleene didn't have a perfect picture of how the weather was going to remain and slapped on some cool patches for good measure before she ventured outside. She returned to the site of the printing press, seeing that this was going to be their project for another few days or so. It may seem like a community project now...but may turn into a battlefield later.

She tilted her head when she saw the droid...sitting there? Maybe because its hydraulics were damaged?

"Hey there..." she said from afar, keeping her distance in case the droid was going into self-destruct mode or doing something dangerous.

[The SCaT Droid]

Turning its head to meet the new voice, SCaT, soon to be 3CaT, notices the lady who is wearing a similar helmet to Toboga and that lady who spoke up in the bar. "Do you think it would ever be possible for organics to recognize the rights of droids? Are we doomed to forever be the socially acceptable slaves of others?"

[Soleene Stryss]

Soleene gave the droid a look without saying anything, at least it seemed that way considering where her helmet was facing. She didn't expect to be hit with such a heavy question immediately, that's for sure.

After a few beats, she gave a shake of her head with a small sigh. "Sorry, I honestly wouldn't know. You might have to ask a fortune teller, wizard, or even a Jedi that question. It's been that way for several centuries, right? It's doing to take a whole lot of change to make it otherwise."

[The SCaT Droid]

"It's been a lot more than a couple of centuries. To think 4000 years have gone by and not an inch of progress has been made in the field of droid rights. They were able to make hundreds of rules on the rights of organics, even outright banning slavery on core worlds. But for a droid, their slavery is so common no one even thinks about it."

[Soleene Stryss]

Soleene finally approached closer to the droid as it didn't seem like it was going to do something irrational. "Well, I might know of someone who's an academic who might be able to answer that. You're right to say that it's been so common that many people don't think about it. I never thought about it until you asked me."

She tapped on the chin of her helmet in thought at first. "Maybe because you're built by someone, right? At one point in time? But I guess parents don't really own their kids either. Most parents."

[The SCaT Droid]

"Academics might very well be able to help with these sorts of questions, but which ones would be willing to risk so much for something so drastic. Regardless, I think it has to do the fact organics have grown for millions of years without having to even consider that objects have feelings, so perhaps the problem is that I don't have anything organic on my body whatsoever. But I need to incorporate it smoothly to be natural looking. Perhaps I can add what those humans call a 'mustache'?"

[Soleene Stryss]

Soleene couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of a droid wanting to put on a mustache just to fit in. "Unfortunately, I don't know how much that's actually going to do the trick when it comes to blending it. Besides, a mustache is more hair and less flesh. On my first day here, I ran into a droid that tried doing that but way more, putting on all sorts of synthetic flesh and all that. It didn't look that convincing but I admit I wasn't really thinking it was a droid at the time."

[The SCaT Droid]

"Yes, I know the droid you are talking about. It also had no idea of what the Jedi were, so it had no knowledge of that sensation that living beings have, the force, I think it was called? So it only knew to emulate surface level sensations, similar to trying to sell a speeder bike when all you have is a frame."

[Soleene Stryss]

"The Force?" she said with a bit of curiosity coming from a droid. If anyone talked about the Force, she might have thought of them just as odd. "That might be a way of thinking specific to the Jedi rather than organic beings themselves. Isn't that kind of being in the deep end when it comes to questioning your existence?"

[The SCaT Droid]

"Maybe the Jedi are the only ones who actively think that way, as an order of people who devote their whole lives to serving it. But what if everyone subconsciously feels it?"

[Soleene Stryss]

"The mythical Jedi are just one of the many million spiritual groups out there in the galaxy, I'm sure. I'm sure that they might have some different or similar way of thinking. They are the most famous and have the best stories, even if I've never met one before. Apparently, we're part of everything in the galaxy, whether we like it or not." She said with a few nods, although she didn't necessarily mean in regards to the Force.

[The SCaT Droid]

"But droids are not a part of the force, and that is why organics do not even bother to treat droids as anything more than mere property. "

[Soleene Stryss]

"They're not?" She asked on a genuine note at first. "That would probably be true if everyone and everybody subscribed to the idea of the force. I don't think that's actually the case. It's probably more likely everyone is just trying to get ahead in life and step on someone. Admittedly, droids end up with the short straw on that. That's if you're asking about the order of things."

She went quiet and tilted her head slightly. "Who have you been talking to?"

[The SCaT Droid]

"It is simply observations of an old B1, when you are around Jedi long enough you can see the patterns. Tactical droids that had no way of knowing a master's use of battle meditation until the CIS already lost, Jedi who are at peace in nature but never in factories, hell even padawans who try to use Jedi mind tricks to get an advantage but fail."

[Soleene Stryss]

"I think you might get more out of this question with a Jedi than a Mandalorian, to be honest. Our code is more pragmatic and communal in comparison. We don't quite have time for the mysteries in life, let alone the Force."

She shook her head. "Anyway, what brings you to this spot? Not exactly a spiritual place, not that I know of, at least."

[The SCaT Droid]

"Even a droid needs to rest every now and then. But you're right, if my goal is community, then I don't have to become a jedi to do so. Tell me, are there droids that are recognized as mandalorians, not as property of one, but as one of their kind?"

[Soleene Stryss]

Her head turned upwards as she was glancing at the sky. "Well, it seems like a good day for that at least. It doesn't seem like the sort of day where you can fry an egg on a metal panel." She said as she looked down at herself, wondering if she could have actually done such a thing yesterday.

"I sure can't see the Force but I can see the good that I've done from my actions. Maybe not immediately but I hope in time. As for droids..." she said with a sigh as she put a hand on her neck. "I'm not too well-versed in history to know if there was a precedence for it, might have to ask another Mandalorian...Sometimes I get surprised by the sort who find themselves inside these helmets sometimes."

[The SCaT Droid]

"Your kind don't take off their helmets?"

[Soleene Stryss]

She gave a slow nod at that question. "We can. Just depending on circumstance or interpretation, and sometimes even on intent, we chose not to in public."