#i think you can be sentient without some deep emotional attachment to mirrors

[iamanoccasionaldoodler]

The mirror test as proof of self awareness is so crazy to me bc like. I don't even think I'D pass the mirror test. Like if I had lived my entire life in the wild and the only time I saw my reflection was in still pools of water maybe sometimes and I suddenly came across a CRYSTAL CLEAR image of myself VERTICALLY FLOATING???????? My first thought would NOT be "oh that chick's got a dot I wonder if I've got a dot"

Fourth dimensional scientists showing humans exact 3D replicas of themselves and sighing sadly when the humans freak out, resigning themselves to the fact that humans cannot recognize themselves and are just mindless automatons.

Like don't get me wrong it is COOL when animals pass the mirror test. But I don't think it's testing self awareness. It's testing "ability to understand mirrors"

[legobiwan]

Despite your (justified) criticism of them, I'd like to hear your favourite positives about Qui Gon and the Jedi

Absolutely! 

And as an introduction, yes, I love to pull on the threads of things to watch them unravel and then follow those tangled paths to their conclusions. (The fun in this is exploring the possibilities and the whys and wherefores.) The Jedi institution and the Jedi therein were flawed and those flaws were exploited - to a catastrophic degree by Sidious but also by others along the way, which created a network of fascinating causes and effects that I just find endlessly fun to explore. The Jedi were slow to change, too immersed in tradition, aware of their shortcomings but seemingly unable to do anything about it.1 This being said, their ideals, their basic philosophies of nonattachment, of duty, of their place in the galaxy - those were solid, if not wholly attainable by any sentient. (”Seekers, not saints,” as the saying might go.) At the end of the day, I consider myself a staunch Jedi apologist, even if I will first run them through the wringer before I get to that point. 

But anyway - 

Qui-gon 

My favorite problematic Jedi.

I think this quote from Master and Apprentice is very illustrative:

And this, I think, is the true embodiment of Qui-gon Jinn. He doesn’t negate the fact the darkness will always exist, that terrible things and people will inhabit the galaxy. But he emphasizes (to Rael, who is a bit more nihilistic about the Code and life at that point) he turns to the Light not because of the Jedi, or Yoda, or the Code - but because it is the right thing to do. 

It actually reminds me a lot of this quote that’s been going around irl2:

And it’s true. Turning to the Light will not win you any points. This isn’t a game or a sports event, and in the true sense of balance, there is no real victor in the end. You can choose the dark and it will always be there to balance the Light because there is no Light without Dark and vice versa. But does one want to live their life in the shadows or attempt to create something better, even if it is a Sisyphean task, in a chaotic and unruly universe? Qui-gon - for all his foibles and occasionally terrible execution - lives by this, sometimes in spite of the Jedi as an institution. And I admire that about him. 

And it’s this type of mindset, that sees the Light as something beyond the Code, beyond the Jedi as an institution, that makes Qui-gon such an effective “maverick.” I love his reasoning for training Padawans away from Coruscant:

This is so good, such a fantastic idea, and it makes me yearn for an AU Council where Qui-gon did take the seat (and then Rael could have finished Obi-wan’s training which would have been hilarious). The Council needed someone like Qui-gon who would challenge them at every turn, who would not accept the answers of “status quo” and “tradition” as acceptable. (And we all know from whom Qui-gon inherited this tendency, although Dooku was trying too hard to be an exemplary Jedi to be able to be the maverick either Rael or Qui-gon turned out to be. Which mirrors...someone else I could talk about.)

Qui-gon questions, constantly, and if he had lived past TPM, he would have likely been a thorn in Palpatine’s side because he would have raised issues like this:

The Council needed a strong, dissenting voice, and Qui-gon would have been it. 

Even beyond this, however, Qui-gon cares. He subverts certain Jedi morals (and probably Republic law) to free Anakin. (And guess who, many years later, subverted Republic law in several attempts to do good, attempts that came so close to unveiling Sidious. Yes, I’m talking about Obi-wan, if you were wondering.) He refuses to sign the treaty with Czerka because it will enslave Pijal for eternity. His ideals are not bound by a (the) Code, by his place in an Order, but by something deeper, by a moral imperative to do the right thing.

(And also, without Qui-gon, would we have had Force ghosts?)

We can learn a lot from Qui-gon, even if (as I said) his execution of his ideals left some bodies in its wake. 

The Jedi

One of the things I love about the Jedi is their approach to attachment. And I’m always reminded of this T.S. Eliot quote I got from a horoscope 10 years ago in a local alt-weekly paper that I ripped out and have carried with me since:

“We die to each other daily. What we know of other people is only our memory of the moments during which we knew them. And they have changed since then.“

Everything in this universe is fluid and in my mind, out society places far too much importance on a linear trajectory, on this cause-and-effect growth of “this is who you were and this is where you will be according to our metrics.” People change. Goals change. Life happens. Friends, lovers, strangers - they flirt in and out of our lives, always impactful, but never forever. And therefore, attachment - a form of control, a way of executing a will on an unknowable and recalcitrant universe - tends to be detrimental. And this isn’t to say that one should be without meaning and maintain some form of attachment to people and ideals and identities. But it’s a matter of managing that. Which is...not easy for anyone.3 

I love the alternate Jedi Code.

Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. Death, yet the Force.

It acknowledges that we will feel, will experience all these emotions and stimuli, but we can work on observing our reactions, and then watching them fly away.

And in a lot of cases, this is good. We need to be able to observe our own reactions, as if in a scientific experiment. I experience this, but it doesn't not define me, is a great way to deal with adverse circumstances.4

Taken to an extreme, however, and things get a little dicey. 

The Jedi wanted to do good, hell, they even allowed themselves to be policed by the Republic to show their non-intrusive intentions to the populace. And a bunch of psychic space monks can be a little scary - let the holomedia get a hold of that narrative and things could go downhill real fast. 

Mace wanted to see justice. Yoda wanted to see peace. Obi-wan wanted to see order. Anakin wanted to see love. None of this is bad, none of this necessarily conflicts with the Code. The Jedi believed all life connected through the Force, and it’s kind of beautiful, in a The Good Place-type of way that, I think, gives some real optimism to our whole sentient existence on this floating rock. And the Jedi, they give up everything, even if it isn’t necessarily by choice, to devote themselves to a higher ideal, to - at its core - helping. To - as the Qui-gon quote references - a greater good and the defense of that greater good in spite of everything. 

In the end, I feel like it was really a matter of ideals vs. institutions. Jedi ideals are wonderful. Jedi institutions, like any, have their own inherent difficulties.The Jedi. as a whole. were doing their best to stick to their ideals in a non-ideal situation. Traditional culture versus ideals, however, is a whole other story.

1 this is very connected to my feelings about the classical music industry which are complicated and deep

2 uhhh, you paying attention, America?

3 I think this is where Dooku’s inherent nihilism came into play. And there’s no easy answer to any of this. Also, life is weird, you guys.

4 This is literally how I managed a very severe phobia of flying. Had to cleave the connection between fear I am going to die now and being in a plane. Which is hilarious, because prior to COVID, I was flying A LOT. 

[mando-chicken]

Mental Occupation | Chapter 2

“When Fives is killed, his essence refuses to become one with the force, instead, searching out the easiest sentient being to attach itself to. After years working beneath Palpatine, Fox has had his mental shields completely eroded and his defences completely shattered, making him the perfect person for Fives’ essence to transfer into. The two of them must figure out how all this strange ‘jedi stuff’ works and how they can both coexist long enough to save their brothers and if they’re lucky, perhaps the rest of the galaxy too.”

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Fives was struggling to keep his breathing calm as he began fretfully pacing the small length of his assigned quarters. He could feel his nails digging into the soft flesh of his forearms as he clutched at them with a white-knuckle grip, creating little moon shaped indents along his skin even through the thick material of his blacks. Panicking over a situation went against everything he had been trained for during even the earliest stages of ARC training, but recently it felt as though those months of work had been thrown completely out of the window.  

Losing his mind and making rash decisions would be a terrible mistake – the events of the last rotation had been a perfect example of that – but there were only so many scenarios that Fives had been trained to handle, even with how he had been encouraged to regularly think outside of the box and use more unorthodox approaches. What to do when randomly waking up in someone else’s skin was certainly not on the general training curriculum  

Deep breaths. Take stock of the situation. Come up with a goal. Design a plan to reach said goal.

On flimsi it sounded easy enough, but Fives was struggling to complete the first step successfully, and he was beginning to have serious doubts about managing to deal with the situation. Though giving up in the face of difficulty had never been in the trooper’s nature, and so with a deep breath Fives managed to force himself to cease his pointless pacing. He took a moment to close his eyes, feeling each breath as it entered his nose and exited through his mouth. Breathing in fresh, cool air that soothed all the way down his throat, and exhaling breaths laced with all his worry and fear, carrying away the negative emotions so that his mind could be clear and logical.  

When Fives opened his eyes again he refused to look at his reflection, switching off the refresher light so that he wouldn’t have to keep accidentally seeing his appearance and becoming any more distracted than he already was. He seemed to unconsciously gravitate towards the cot in the corner of the room, sinking down onto the firm mattress, sighing heavily as his body once again reminded him of just how exhausted he was.  

As attractive as it sounded to be back in his own bunk, surrounded by his snoring brothers all safe and sound, he wasn’t about to try and make another escape attempt, not after having already just spent hours on the run from the Guard. Then there was of course also the issue of Fives’ commandeered body, who exactly it belonged to, and if it was possible to give it back to them. He knew he couldn’t trust the Corrie brothers to help him, and apparently Captain Rex wasn’t pleased with whoever he was now body sharing with.  

It wasn’t as though he could simply tell them what had happened to him either, for they would undoubtedly think he had gone mad, and Fives was far from eager to be shipped off back to Kamino to give the doctors a second attempt at wiping his mind. So it seemed that until he could come up with some indisputable proof of who he really was, he would have to try his best to lay low and draw as little attention to himself as possible.  

Ensuring that he distances himself from the rest of his brothers would be a challenge, but he was sure that he could come up with some excellent excuses for any odd behaviour, he was an expert liar after all. The 501st would likely be getting deployed again within the next few days, so he knew he wouldn’t be bothered by any of his closer brothers, and Captain Rex and General Skywalker would likely be spending their short leave time at the base and the Jedi temple respectively.  

Keeping away from the Chancellor would be simple – the man only interacted with people of importance or high rank, and Fives was certain he didn’t qualify as either – as far as he had heard, only the Guard commanders regularly spent time around him and he was certain that he hadn’t recognized the body he’d seen in the mirror, so it was unlikely he was anyone of importance. There had been several Coruscant Guard members that had come to the warehouse to arrest him, but judging by the fact he had been led to the officer quarters he was likely using the body of some sergeant or captain.  

He had no idea what routines the Guards usually kept to, but with any luck he would have some sort of superior to report to, and from there he could figure out some way to get a hold of a roster or mission details. With any luck he would have enough down time to try and find some clues as to what had happened to him, or at least something to help prove his identity. The thought of attempting to contact the Jedi briefly crossed his mind, but the memory of General Skywalker’s reaction to his earlier behaviour still left a rather bitter taste of betrayal heavy in his mouth, and he quickly pushed aside the notion, deciding that his first goal would be to try and gain the support of his fellow brothers before speaking to anyone further along in the command chain.  

With his goal in mind, and his body begging for rest, Fives dropped down onto the cot, feeling all the tension in his body bleed out as he sunk into the material of the mattress. He was about to finally concede defeat and drift off when a soft pinging sound came from the datapad perched on the table beside his bed. Curious, he dragged the padd closer to him, holding it up above his head to quickly scan over the message sent to him.  

The message was sent from a CC-2224, and after a few moment digging through his memory, Fives was able to recall it was Commander Cody’s designation. The message was Cody demanding that he tell him what had happened earlier that evening, and Fives could practically feel the irritation radiating from the text when Cody added that Rex was completely beside himself and that apparently it was all his fault that their vod’ika was so distressed. Fives was briefly taken aback by someone referring to Rex as their vod’ika, and had to quickly remind himself that yes, Cody probably would view Rex that way considering he was the elder clone in their relationship.  

Fives wanted to reply to the message straight away, his very bones practically shouting that he couldn’t just ignore a question from his superior, but he wasn’t entirely sure himself what had happened, and spreading misinformation would likely not help his situation. Until the ARC was certain about what had transpired in the warehouse he would have to pretend he hadn’t yet seen the message and pray to the Maker that Cody was too busy to comm him for answers.  

Scrolling a little further up the conversation, he saw that his own designation was set as CC-1010, confirming that his body was that of either a commander or captain. Unfortunately, he couldn’t quite remember anyone with that specific number – he never really bothered to remember the numerical designations of anyone other than his closest brothers in case he ever had to write up a report detailing the deceased – the GAR didn’t care for the names of the clones serving them, only noting their number for ease of recording.  

Switching off the datapad screen, Fives placed the device back on the table, stretching out on his temporary bed with a rather large yawn. His eyes were refusing to focus on anything and his eyelids were beginning to droop, so knowing that he would likely have quite a stressful day when he woke, he was quick to wriggle into a slightly more comfortable position. He hadn’t been bothered to switch off the overhead lights, but that seemed not to matter, for he was quick to drop off to sleep.  

Although it was easy for him to get to sleep, Fives found himself tossing and turning the entire night, his head swimming and refusing to let him get too comfortable. He was too used to needing to sleep lightly for him to be able to fully relax, at least not without someone keeping watch or laying beside him, so he wasn’t entirely surprised when he woke still feeling slightly groggy. For a moment he wondered what he’d been woken by, before his thoughts were interrupted by the soft sound of knocking.  

Quickly rolling from the cot and to his feet, Fives took a second to give a large stretch before pressing the keypad to unlock the door, watching as it slid open to reveal a clone in fresh white armour. The shiny straightened to attention, moving their arm to perform a salute before seeming to realise that they couldn’t do so while weighed down by the pile of crimson armour held within their grasp. “Good morning, sir,” he greeted, voice wavering slightly, but still sounding far too chipper for someone awake at such an ungodly hour, “I was sent by one of the medics to return your armour to you, sir, they forgot to give it to Commander Thire before your both retired.”  

“Uh, yeah, thanks kid,” was all he offered, finally managing to blink the blurriness from his eyes as he moved aside to let the shiny into the room.  

The young clone was quick to place the set of armour neatly in a pile on Fives’ desk before turning back to him once more, “is that all, sir?” he asked, waiting for Fives to offer him a nod and a quiet affirmative, before snapping a brief salute. The shiny pivoted around on his heel and was out of his quarters before Fives even had the chance to blink, leaving him once more alone and slightly miffed that he hadn’t been able to catch the kid’s name.  

Rubbing his face slightly to rid himself of any other lingering exhaustion, Fives walked over to the stack of armour, gingerly lifting up the helmet that sat at the very top of the pile and staring into its visor. A sinking feeling began to steadily grow in his gut as he realised that he recognised the helmet. He had seen the very same visor staring back at him when a blaster bolt had been shot through his chest, and he knew almost for certain who owned it.  

Pushing aside some of the armour pieces, Fives was horrified to find that there was indeed a kama and commander’s pauldron that matched the design of the bucket still in his grasp. He might not have known the identification number, but it was infinitely easier to recognise such a unique armour design.  In his hands sat the helmet of Commander Fox.  

Fives was trapped in the body of his own killer.  

Someone sure had a sick sense of humour, and if they really wanted to torture him then they were certainly doing a good job of it. He silently wondered what exactly he had done in his past life to deserve such a cruel punishment. He wanted to just crawl back into his bunk, hide under his blanket and proceed to wallow in self pity for the next hundred years or so. He knew life was unfair, especially for a clone, but this was an entirely new level of cruel and unjust.  

“You ready yet, Fox?” Fives practically jerked away from the armour when Commander Thire poked his head in through the door that remained still open. Seemingly ignorant of Fives’ response, Thire continued, “I know I said that I’d cleared your schedule for the morning and you’ll probably just be catching up on paperwork, but did you want to join me and the boys for breakfast?”  

Fives wanted to immediately turn him down, but he knew it would likely look rather suspicious if he tried to completely avoid the other Guard members, and the worried yet hopeful look that Thire was subjecting him too made it neigh impossible for him to turn him down. “Sure, vod, just let me finish getting my armour on.” As uncomfortable as it made him to even touch the foreign armour, he had to try and seem natural.  

Luckily for Fives, the commander’s armour had most of the same components as his ARC armour, and if he tried hard enough he could almost pretend that he was wearing his familiar blue plastoid. He left his helmet off for the time being, tucking it under his arm, before moving to join Thire who was stood just outside the doorway in the hall. The Commander gave him a nod and a soft smile, reaching out and gently wrapping an arm around his shoulders.  

“How are you feeling, vod?” Thire’s eyebrows had furrowed in concern, his face looking almost painfully piteous as he looked at Fives. They had slowly started walking, and Fives was careful to pay attention to where they were going so that he could hopefully find his way back to his quarters later.  

Fives gave the Commander a smile, though it felt awkwardly forced, “I’m fine, just a little tired is all.” He was nervous, and praying that the other clone didn’t pick up on it, growing more anxious by the second as Thire’s eyes continued to heavily scrutinize his face for any signs of a lie. He heard the Commander make a soft noise, looking away from him but looking no more convinced than he had been before Fives’ attempt at reassurance.  

“Okay, well, I’m going to be busy all day, but we can chat tonight when we’ve both clocked off, alright?” The Commander gave his shoulder a firm squeeze just as the reached the entrance to the mess, dropping his hand from Fives’ shoulder just before they stepped into the room, ensuring that no one had seen their brief moment of brotherly support. Fives had heard stories of Commander Fox, the brave, confident leader, and so he figured that being seen receiving reassurance for any sort of worry could potentially damage such a reputation.  

It was strange really, because Fives was so used to the openness that Captain Rex usually showed him – sure he wouldn’t completely break down in front of his men, but he was quite happy to both give and receive affection from his men – he personally thought that it made him stronger for being able to do so. He was forced to remind himself that this was the Coruscant Guard, not his buddies from Torrent, and they likely had their own ways of supporting one another, even if it wasn’t quite as open as he was used to.  

Thire led them to a bench off to the side, already half full by the time they reached it. On one side sat sergeant Hound, who was grinning at Commander Stone sat beside him, apparently winning some sort of argument if Stone’s expression was anything to go by. Commander Thorn sat across from them, snickering slightly at the other two as they quietly bickered.  

They all glanced up the moment they caught sight of Fox and Thire, and Thorn quickly scooted down the other end of the table to make room for the two approaching commanders. Hound and Stone had taken a pause in their argument, watching as the other two clones sat down, and Thorn slid two trays and two cups of caff in their direction. “Managed to grab you guys some of the fresh caff before everyone else started fighting over it,” Thorn explained, taking a sip from his own mug.

Thire made a pleased sound as he took a gulp of his own drink, “I don’t think I’d be able to make it through the day if I’d been stuck with that dodgy stuff they keep reheating throughout the day, tastes like gutter water.”  

“Do I want to know how you know what gutter water tastes like?” Stone smirked at Thire, chuckling when the other Commander simply rolled his eyes.  

Fives was happy to listen to the officers ribbing one another, enjoying the moment of familiar, harmless mocking between brothers, as he eagerly tucked into his breakfast, feeling as though he hadn’t eaten in a week. He wasn’t sure if he was happy or not that even in a world where everything seemed to be turning on its head, ration squares still tasted just as bland as always.  

[overanalyzingelswordiswhatido]

Nasod Arm

Raidyn wandered through the halls of the palace. He had a lot to think about. He was going to lose his arm. He had the option to let Eve replace it with a Nasod arm, but he wasn't sure how he felt about that. What was he supposed to feel? No matter what choice he made, he would have to relearn how to fight. He would have to waste time when he needed to be getting stronger. There were kids relying on him for protection now and he had to rescue Oliver and Sandra. But as it was, his arm was slowing him down. He couldn't train with it like this. It made his whole body hurt in a way he never thought possible.

On top of all that, Raidyn feared how much of his body would have to be changed to accommodate a Nasod arm. He knew Eve would never want to harm him but would he be human anymore if he followed through on her offer? Or would he be a machine? Would his thoughts and actions be dictated by something other than himself?

Raidyn paused in front of a door. Something about this-no-beyond this door felt different. The other doors he passed without noticing, but this one had something strange. It was familiar to him, but he was also certain he never felt it before. He glanced around but none of the Nasods seemed to be paying attention to him. He shrugged. He doubted opening a door could end worse than anything he's already lived through.

The room was empty of any other sentient beings. Thirteen cases lined the walls. Raidyn frowned and stepped into the room. He looked into the closest case. An ancient camera sat in it. It wasn't labeled at all so he couldn't tell what it was there for. He looked at the next case, looking for some sort of clue to help him figure out what these things were. The next case held a single teacup. The next one held what looked like a set of knitting needles, with intricate designs of leaves and flowers carved into them. Next was an ancient book about Nasods.

Raidyn stopped at the next case. It had a mechanical arm in it. The arm looked extremely dangerous. And heavy. Was this the arm Eve and Ain were talking about? He didn't think he was strong enough to lift it, left alone actually have it attached to his body. Why was the arm in a case with all of these other things? Was it for a friend of hers once upon a time? Why would she offer it to him then? Or was she just indulging Ain since he originally suggested it?

"Ah, hello Raidyn."

Raidyn turned in surprise. Eve stood in the doorway. He looked down, "Sorry. I didn't mean to go snooping around at your stuff."

"Snooping?" Eve repeated in confusion.

"Um... Well, I suppose I expected you to be angry that I've been looking at your stuff without permission," Raidyn shrugged. He didn't know why he expected her to be angry. She barely seemed to respond to things that would make anyone else angry. Was it because she was a Nasod?

"I'm not angry." Eve shook her head, "The only reason I can think someone would be angry about something like this is if they had something to hide, whether it was bad or not."

Raidyn frowned, "Whether it was bad or not?"

"I've noticed humans will hide things and may get angry if those things are discovered without permission. Even if it's something as simple as an idea they weren't ready to share yet."

Raidyn nodded, "Yeah, I guess." He glanced around, "If you don't mind my asking, what are all of these things?"

Eve looked around the room, "A long time ago I had friends. And they all left certain things when they died. These are all things they either left to me specifically or things they got for me when they were alive."

"You outlived all of your friends?" Raidyn looked around. That must've been lonely for her. No wonder she kept all of these things in protective cases.

"Not all of them." Eve shook her head, "Both Ain and Laby are friends from that time as well."

"Oh." Raidyn was surprised by Laby. She seemed like a normal kid to him. Other than her penchant for talking to her mirror. He turned and looked back at the arm, "This is the arm you and Ain were talking about, wasn't it?"

Eve nodded, "It is." She didn't elaborate further. It was almost like she was waiting for him to ask more questions. He did have quite a few of them.

"Why would you offer it to me if it was from one of your friends?"

"Even though it was a burden to him, especially at first, I do not believe Raven would've wanted it to remain in its case if it could be used to help someone who wanted that help," Eve answered.

"A burden?"

"Raven did not have the choice that you do," Eve explained.

"He just lost his arm and had this one forced on him?" Raidyn was shocked.

Eve nodded, "It was done in a misguided attempt to create a force that would protect the world. The Nasod that did it was incapable of emotion and so did not understand the impact his actions would have."

Raidyn looked from her to the arm and back again in horror, "If I do go through with this it won't hurt me more will it?"

"Of course not," Eve shook her head, "If you decide to go through with the Nasod arm, I will make adjustments to its design that will allow you to use it with your desired efficiency. I have never had a limb detached from my body, but I would assume that it will take some getting used to."

Raidyn nodded. "How... How many Nasod parts will you have to give me to accommodate the arm?"

Eve was quiet for many nervewracking seconds. Finally, she held up her two fingers, "Two Nasod parts. I would also probably add extra supports into your back and legs so that you are less likely to injure yourself but I do not believe those would be counted, since they would be simple steel."

"What's the second part?" Raidyn barely managed to get the question out.

"The interface device," Eve answered. "It would only serve the purpose of connecting the arm to your mind so that you may control it as you would your functional flesh and blood arm."

"No commands? Or anything?"

"None that will affect you. The only commands present will limit the arm's capabilities until you are ready to use them and will operate the basic systems that will keep the arm from doing something like overheating."

"So... I'll still be me, just with a giant mechanical arm?" Raidyn asked hesitantly.

"Unless you wish for the arm to be streamlined into a slimmer model," Eve nodded.

"How does the darkness affect Nasod technology?"

"I do not know," Eve shook her head. She had crossed the room and was looking into one of the other cases. Raidyn didn't know what was in it, since it was one he hadn't looked at. "It does not appear interested in Nasod technology."

Raidyn frowned. He felt less anxious about the possibility but he was still uncertain. Either way he had to relearn how to fight but with a big heavy arm, he had to put in double the work. Did he have time for that before the darkness returned? Or did he go through with it anyway and take advantage of the fact that the darkness didn’t seem to care about Nasods?

Raidyn took a deep breath, "I think... I think I want the arm, please."

Eve didn’t seem surprised, "I'll start making the necessary adjustments to it."

Raidyn nodded. He turned and blew air into his cheeks as he left the room. He really hoped he didn't regret this.