Ask Insomniacs United: Library After Hours

[Connor Vance]

Umbara l Death Enabled​

Connor had reached out to Cor earlier in the week to see if she wanted to look into these super secret Sith Lords. He knew she had trouble sleeping and so suggested they make it an adventure, to sneak into the library after hours! What’s the worst that could happen after all?

So that was why Connor slipped through the corridors of the Umbaran Academy. In his cybernetic hand Connor held a festive gift bag with Corra’s Life Day presents. No time better then than the present, or something like that.

After getting to the library door, Connor hid in a little nook and waited for Cor. He half expected her to just step out from a wall or something. But that was impossible. Wasn’t it?

@Phoenix

 

[Corra]

Corra was having a blast with this, of course. Sneaking into the library after hours was pretty much her precise jam. The library had closed many hours ago, and they were supposed to be in their rooms, but here they were, out and about dodging the hall monitor.

She made her way quietly down the halls before coming to the library doors. She didn't see Connor yet, but she hoped that his days on Nar Shaddaa made him a decent lockpick because although she knew that some people could phase through walls... she couldn't.

As he started to emerge from the shadows, she turned and almost jumped, waving a quiet "hello" a moment later.

Hey! No trouble getting here? she whispered quietly.

 

[Connor Vance]

Connor noticed Cor’s waving and put a finger up to his lips and mimicked a shhh motion. Then he slid up towards where she was. His ear gave a quick twitch.

“Hey what’s up Cor?” Whispered in reply. “It wasn’t that bad getting here, only had to dodged Dalon once.” He told her. “Oh hey, got you something for Life Day!” He said in a hushed tone as he held out the festive bag.

In it Cor would find a horror novel, a bottle of sleeping pills, and log in information to a sleep app. Connor gave her a shrug. “I didn’t know what you wanted or liked really but I remembered you said you had trouble sleeping and that you like spooky stuff.” He told her. “Happy Life Day! Now lemme see if I can’t get through this lock.” Connor muttered as he got to work.

It took a little bit of time but eventually the lock clicked open and Connor pushed the door open for them to slip through. His ears had perked a little bit, he hasn’t picked a lock in a while and was feeling accomplished about it.

“Okay, did you bring the skin bible?” He asked.

@Phoenix

 

[Corra]

Corra looked at the bag of gifts that held... presents? She didn't even know how to respond. She wasn't sure that anyone had ever actually given her a Life Day present before.

She tore into the bag like a child on... well, Life Day, and her eyes lit up as she looked inside. Really, she couldn't have cared much less what the gifts actually were, just that someone had bought them for her.

Oh my goodness, thank you! she whispered in excitement before something occurred to her.

But I didn't get you anything... she said. He didn't seem particularly worried about that, but even so, Corra felt somewhat guilty for the one sided exchange.

He went about the work of picking at the lock, and in short order they were through and into the library.

Yeah, Corra whispered. I guess we can start in the R section for R-LA, she said with a shrug.

Or we can try to find something related to people who have been stricken from the records, she said.

 

[Connor Vance]

Connor shrugged when Corra said she didn’t get him anything. He didn’t reply straight away, instead he was focusing on the lock and getting it open. When it popped and they got in he glanced back at her.

“It’s cool Cor.” He replied. “I don’t think you can get me what I’d like for Life Day.” He told her, his ears drooped just a hair.

Connor pushed aside those thoughts and instead focused on why they were here. There were two options, split up and cover more ground separately or work together to get each area done faster. Connor thought about it for a second.

“Let’s start with the Rs and then if we don’t find anything we can check for info on Sith that have been stricken.” He whispered. “Come on Cor! I’ll race you there!”

Connor tried to run as quietly as he could to the section in question. He knew if they made too much noise the librarian-bot would come out of sleep mode and enter aggressive interview mode. Connor was fairly sure that was just code for torture.

However, when he arrived he immediately started looking through the books. He used his phone light to read each book’s spine and selected a few that might be helpful. He slid to the floor with his small pile and started reading.

“You have many brothers and sisters?” He asked as he read, just making small talk.

Eventually, Connor found something interesting. One of his books made note of a Tiefling warlord that attacked primitive worlds almost exclusively. She either razed them or enslaved the populations for her own needs. Connor handed the book over to Cor.

“You think this could be R-LA?”

@Phoenix

 

[Corra]

What does that mean? she couldn't help but blurt out as he talked about not getting what he wanted for Life Day. Of course she was going to ask because why wouldn't she?

Okay, will do, she said as they settled on their plan. She did her best to remain quiet as well, and at least her years of slipping around the schools at night had made her fairly light on her feet.

They started looking through the books, and Corra didn't see much that would be of benefit. There was little by way of information for the two of them to go on, which was going to make this much more difficult. His question - although a mundane one - caught her off guard.

No, she said. It technically wasn't a lie. He'd asked if she had "many" but she had precisely one and that one wasn't one she was not eager to talk about around the other members of the Sith Order.

What about you? she asked as they kept looking, finding a couple of books on Darth Raze among the R's but nothing that see could be what they were looking for... at least at first.

That was when Connor handed something over to her that looked more promising at least.

It's possible, she said, thoughtfully turning the book over. I don't know why I've never heard of her before, she said, starting to thumb quickly through the pages and going first to the table of contents to see what kind of chapters they might be in for.

It certainly... seems to fit with the themes, she said, pulling out the necronomicon and putting them side by side to see if they... reacted at all. It seemed like a long shot, but who knew?

 

[Connor Vance]

Connor’s ears dipped when Corra pushed about the topic. He chewed on the inside of his lip as he thought about it. “It’s…complicated.” He replied with a sigh. “But if you’re really wanting to get me something, I can send a list.” He teased, trying to shift the topic.

Cor was cool. But Connor was sure she wouldn’t want to hear about his girl problems. They were weird and complex and more often than not left him wondering what he was even doing. But it was like he told Nash, the heart wanted what it wanted.

As the pair looked for info on these Sith Lords, Connor would get his answer on her siblings. It was a short clipped answer. That’s fine, maybe home life wasn’t so great for her. Seemed that way if she was raised Sith. But when she asked him in return he glanced up.

“Yeah.” He replied simply. “Oldest of three.” Connor continued as he read from one of the books.

When Connor handed Cor the book she put them side by side with her skin bible. Nothing seemed to happen. But as they sat there, Connor’s sensitive ears picked up on something. It sounded like a swarm of whirring mechanical flies. His eyes got wide.

“Shit…” He whispered. “Librarian-bot! How did she get activated?” He asked in a hushed tone. “We gotta hide!” He told her.

His eyes initially fell to a table they could hide under but that seemed like a bad idea. Then he noticed a data terminal room that has a door ajar. He pointed to it.

“We gotta make a run for it.” He whispered. “Come on!”

Connor would dash as quietly as possible towards the ajar door and slide into the dark room. He’d wait for Cor before gently shutting the door and sinking against the wall beneath the transparisteel window.

“Do you think she saw us?” He asked nervously.

@Phoenix

 

[Corra]

The evasiveness of his answer told her that this was probably something he wanted to move away from, so she didn't press it further.

Alright, she said, just deciding to take his out on the topic and moving on to talking about their families.

Are they Sith, too? she asked. It was probably more likely than not that his siblings weren't Force-users. It often ran in families, but sometimes - particularly in those who were the "random" sensitives in their families - they were the only ones.

Almost out of nowhere, Connor seemed to sense something and she was scrambling to throw her book - and their new book - into her backpack and hustling it away from the librarian bot that she could now hear whirring toward them.

She scooped up her bag and hurried after him before ducking into the room behind him and closing the door, holding her breath without even realizing it as the droid whirred by outside. Somehow they had just entered a survival horror game with this droid.

Shhh, she whispered quietly, listening to the sound of the droids whirring mechanisms outside.

Several minutes passed before the sound receded.

I wonder if we should come back another night. Take the window and go, she said. Her gut was churning with a "this is a bad idea" vibe she still couldn't break. It had nothing to do with the skin book either!

@Apollyon

 

[Connor Vance]

Connor sat with his back against the wall for several long minutes. He heard the whirring of the librarian-bot as it passed by. There was a crackle of static before the droid played a message on loop, it requested any and all students to come out from hiding, they wouldn’t get in trouble. As the message played, the octaves would dip and rise sporadically. That’s a fucking lie. When the librarian-bot’s message faded into the distance, Connor relaxed a little.

He looked over to Cor with a shocked expression when she suggested they come back another night. “What and give up on getting these answers?” He asked. “We can do this Cor. Come on, hit those blinds and let me slice into the library’s network.” He told her.

Connor slid over to the data terminal, plugged in his computer spike and got to work. He’s fingers danced on his EZphone once a connection between the two devices had been established. He began looking for any and all information regarding Sith R-LA as the name. Tons of do you mean Darth Raze? Popped up. Connor rolled his eyes.

“No I don’t mean Darth Raze…” He muttered as he continued working.

Eventually, Connor realized this was a bust. He laid his head on the terminal’s desk and sighed. “You think they’d have something in…the restricted section?” Connor asked hopefully.

@Phoenix

 

[Corra]

Corra didn't even really pay attention as the droid stated that if they came out there would be no consequences. She'd been in the Sith long enough not to believe a load of crap like that. What, did they think she was born yesterday?

Fortunately, eventually the droid seemed to get bored and move on, leaving the two students alone to get up to trouble again.

Okay, let's do it, she said with a nod, clearly not taking much convincing.

He started doing his thing on the data terminal, and Corra... well, she was Corra, and that meant she started looking through the various books within the library.

She started flipping through tomes about... everything. She started out looking at the books on nexuses before moving on to Sign Casting and finally, of course, settling on prophecies and visions.

She started thumbing through the books, reading the tales of Sith soothsayers and prophets of old, taking in the tales of the prophecies they predicted and comparing them to those that actually happened.

In other words, in short order, Corra was quite lost in her own mind as minute after minute passed.

@Apollyon

 

[Connor Vance]

Connor had no luck with the data terminal. This night had been frustrating so far for him. He was about to say something when he turned and noticed Cor sitting there reading. He couldn’t make out what the book was about but she was lost in it.

He turned back to try and look busy. Not wanting to intrude on her reading for a little bit longer. It seemed like at least one of them was in a good mood and enjoying themselves, best not ruin it quite yet. However, eventually Connor cleared his throat to get Cor’s attention, he threw a thumb over his shoulder towards the terminal.

“Data terminal’s a bust too.” He told her. “You think the restricted section could have anything?” He asked. “Come on I can get us in.”

Connor would quietly sneak through the library and guide them to a massive black gateway. The entrance to the restricted sections. He’d touch the side of the id scanner and slip his mind into it. He’d push through the security protocols and open the gate.

Books flew from shelves. Ancient unraveled and glided to different surfaces. Data terminals turned on without being plugged in. This was the power of the dark side made manifest.

“Woah…this is pretty neat…” Connor muttered.

@Phoenix