The Image Design profession, which I now had a solid handle on, had suddenly lost all of its appeal.
The challenge of learning the trade had kept me interested, but now that I had risen to the top of the ranks, I found that I was simply bored with it. There was nothing more to learn, no more challenges to overcome.
What's more, it didn't pay very well. I was able to charge about 10,000 credits for a full alteration, but customers were not easy to find. I was getting sore legs standing around in Anchorhead, hawking my services to passersby. I didn't see how this career was going to take me anywhere.
Because of my disinterest in image designing, I had meanwhile returned to my mechanical endeavors, and had apprenticed under a few masters of that trade so that I was able to learn how to build my own vehicles. It was a proud day when I crafted my very own example of the sturdy, if common and a bit slow, X-34 Landspeeder. Here, I realized, was an opportunity to make some real money. With a few modifications, I knew I could build some vehicles that others would be very interested in buying.
It may sound to some like I am unduly focused on the attainment of wealth, but the fact of the matter is that I was intimately focused on determining the meaning of the strange, blue cube that had sent me on the image designer path and had spoken to me of Enlightenment. In order to do that, I needed money. I needed to make money in order to have the time to be able to follow what I felt in my soul to be the path of my destiny.
So I began to sell vehicles. I started with a few that I was able to build myself, improving them with the help of the public crafting stations outside the cantina in Bestine. I would offer the ownership deeds to anyone who was looking to buy one. After doing some investigation into what the competition was charging, I found a price scheme that seemed to work. My small business was off and running.
One day, while selling a deed to a friendly Trandoshan musician from Talus, I noticed a dejected woman sitting against one of the outer walls of the Bestine starport. After I finished my business with the musician, I approached her.
Despite her depressed state, she was quite willing to talk with me. I learned that she had become disenchanted with everything she knew. She told me that life seemed like a game to her, and that she no longer had any fun playing it.
Of course I was concerned as to what she might mean by this statement, but she assured me that she was not going to do anything rash, but was only going to join a recluse group she had heard about in a secluded area on the planet Dathomir. This group required that its devotees rid themselves of all worldly possessions so that they might fully concentrate on their efforts to find the true nature of their spiritual calling.
The woman's plan rang true with me. I understood this to be a noble endeavor, and I offered to help her in any way that I could. She brightened at that, and told me that she had been waiting for someone to come along with just that kind of offer. She asked if I could spare the credits to purchase a seat on a transport to the distant planet of Dathomir.
I considered. The fare was quite high, but it did seem that the cause was just. I was hesitant that the whole thing might be a scam, but something about the woman seemed to reassure me that she was trustworthy.
I smiled and handed her the necessary credits. She stood up and bowed, thanking me profusely.
"Here," she said, offering me a satchel. "These are my possessions. I'd like you to have them."
I took the satchel and opened it cautiously. It felt quite strange to take ownership of something I knew to be everything a person had in the world.
To my amazement, I saw a familiar blue glow emanating from the bag.
"I thought it might speak to me," the woman said, "but it was silent. Perhaps it will speak to you, who are so kind."
I reached into the satchel and pulled out the source of the blue glimmer - a cube, seemingly identical to the one that had suddenly appeared in my own pack several weeks before.
"I've seen these before," I told her. "Do you know what it is?"
She nodded. "It is called a Holocron. Some say it is a guide to finding a path to the Force."
"The Force?" I asked her. "What is that?"
Thus began a long conversation that lasted long into the night. The woman explained to me what she knew of the Force, a mysterious energy field that surrounds and fills all living things, binding them together. She had once met a hermit out beyond the Dune Sea, who had mentioned a few things about it to her. She did not know much more than that, but had many ideas about personal destiny and how the Force might tie into it, and these were subjects which captivated my interest.
Finally, as dawn approached, she told me it was time for her to depart. As we both rose, I suddenly noticed the odd weight of the satchel she had given me. There was more in the bag. I looked inside, and was astounded to find a stack of high-value monetary units worth 500,000 credits.
I looked up at her, amazed.
The woman shrugged, and only told me she was not permitted to take it with her.
"But why did you ask me for the shuttle fare?" I asked, perplexed.
"The elders I seek only allow those to join who have been aided by the selfless gift of another in order to make the journey. I apologize for keeping this from you, but it was necessary. I would not have otherwise been allowed acceptance."
With a smile and a wave, she boarded the transport bound for Dathomir. As I waved back to her, I wondered yet again at what the future held in store for me, and what strange things this new Holocron might have to say...
The challenge of learning the trade had kept me interested, but now that I had risen to the top of the ranks, I found that I was simply bored with it. There was nothing more to learn, no more challenges to overcome.
What's more, it didn't pay very well. I was able to charge about 10,000 credits for a full alteration, but customers were not easy to find. I was getting sore legs standing around in Anchorhead, hawking my services to passersby. I didn't see how this career was going to take me anywhere.
Because of my disinterest in image designing, I had meanwhile returned to my mechanical endeavors, and had apprenticed under a few masters of that trade so that I was able to learn how to build my own vehicles. It was a proud day when I crafted my very own example of the sturdy, if common and a bit slow, X-34 Landspeeder. Here, I realized, was an opportunity to make some real money. With a few modifications, I knew I could build some vehicles that others would be very interested in buying.
It may sound to some like I am unduly focused on the attainment of wealth, but the fact of the matter is that I was intimately focused on determining the meaning of the strange, blue cube that had sent me on the image designer path and had spoken to me of Enlightenment. In order to do that, I needed money. I needed to make money in order to have the time to be able to follow what I felt in my soul to be the path of my destiny.
So I began to sell vehicles. I started with a few that I was able to build myself, improving them with the help of the public crafting stations outside the cantina in Bestine. I would offer the ownership deeds to anyone who was looking to buy one. After doing some investigation into what the competition was charging, I found a price scheme that seemed to work. My small business was off and running.
One day, while selling a deed to a friendly Trandoshan musician from Talus, I noticed a dejected woman sitting against one of the outer walls of the Bestine starport. After I finished my business with the musician, I approached her.
Despite her depressed state, she was quite willing to talk with me. I learned that she had become disenchanted with everything she knew. She told me that life seemed like a game to her, and that she no longer had any fun playing it.
Of course I was concerned as to what she might mean by this statement, but she assured me that she was not going to do anything rash, but was only going to join a recluse group she had heard about in a secluded area on the planet Dathomir. This group required that its devotees rid themselves of all worldly possessions so that they might fully concentrate on their efforts to find the true nature of their spiritual calling.
The woman's plan rang true with me. I understood this to be a noble endeavor, and I offered to help her in any way that I could. She brightened at that, and told me that she had been waiting for someone to come along with just that kind of offer. She asked if I could spare the credits to purchase a seat on a transport to the distant planet of Dathomir.
I considered. The fare was quite high, but it did seem that the cause was just. I was hesitant that the whole thing might be a scam, but something about the woman seemed to reassure me that she was trustworthy.
I smiled and handed her the necessary credits. She stood up and bowed, thanking me profusely.
"Here," she said, offering me a satchel. "These are my possessions. I'd like you to have them."
I took the satchel and opened it cautiously. It felt quite strange to take ownership of something I knew to be everything a person had in the world.
To my amazement, I saw a familiar blue glow emanating from the bag.
"I thought it might speak to me," the woman said, "but it was silent. Perhaps it will speak to you, who are so kind."
I reached into the satchel and pulled out the source of the blue glimmer - a cube, seemingly identical to the one that had suddenly appeared in my own pack several weeks before.
"I've seen these before," I told her. "Do you know what it is?"
She nodded. "It is called a Holocron. Some say it is a guide to finding a path to the Force."
"The Force?" I asked her. "What is that?"
Thus began a long conversation that lasted long into the night. The woman explained to me what she knew of the Force, a mysterious energy field that surrounds and fills all living things, binding them together. She had once met a hermit out beyond the Dune Sea, who had mentioned a few things about it to her. She did not know much more than that, but had many ideas about personal destiny and how the Force might tie into it, and these were subjects which captivated my interest.
Finally, as dawn approached, she told me it was time for her to depart. As we both rose, I suddenly noticed the odd weight of the satchel she had given me. There was more in the bag. I looked inside, and was astounded to find a stack of high-value monetary units worth 500,000 credits.
I looked up at her, amazed.
The woman shrugged, and only told me she was not permitted to take it with her.
"But why did you ask me for the shuttle fare?" I asked, perplexed.
"The elders I seek only allow those to join who have been aided by the selfless gift of another in order to make the journey. I apologize for keeping this from you, but it was necessary. I would not have otherwise been allowed acceptance."
With a smile and a wave, she boarded the transport bound for Dathomir. As I waved back to her, I wondered yet again at what the future held in store for me, and what strange things this new Holocron might have to say...
No comments:
Post a Comment