CHAPTER TWO: EMPTY VESSELS

When I showed Master Severns the crystal and the artifact, he gave me a small smile. "Good work. These are two empty vessels waiting to be filled. One, the crystal, is a rare find indeed. I've only seen silver ones once or twice in my life, and the Force must have been quite strong within you in order to have caused it to respond." Seeing my puzzled look, he continued, "Ordinarily, inanimate objects are simply that, without the ability to react to anything else. When infused with the Force, however, they gain that marvelous capacity. I wouldn't go so far as to call them sentient, but they definitely know when a Force Sensitive is nearby. Look how it glows, and feel its vibrations." I did, and the crystal trembled like a live creature in my hand. "It seems to be attuning itself to you, but I'd like to take it to our scientists for further tests. It may be silver, but still contain traces of the Dark Side." I nodded, and Master Severns left for the Temple's laboratories.

In the meantime, I examined the other object I found in the cave more carefully. At first glance, it revealed nothing more than what I'd already learned. It was gray, cube-shaped, and incredibly fragile. However, as I gently rolled it around in my hands, it felt somehow porous, as if light or gases had once seeped through it. If this artifact had contained something, what was it? How was it to be opened? If I was right, how had what was inside gotten out? I was even more anxious to ask my Master about this than about the crystal.

"This object seems somehow familiar to me, but it isn't," I told him. "What could it be?"

Master Severns posed a riddle: "Several of its activated companions are located in the Jedi Archives."

Aha! "It's a holocron, used to store records, lessons, or the teachings of our Order. How come it's empty?"

"Sometimes we Jedi start to use them, then change our minds and erase the message contained within. However, discarding the holocron itself is a terrible waste of resources. Crystals that are sensitive enough to the Force to be used as holocrons are even more rare than lightsaber focus crystals. I can't imagine who would have begun to use it and then tossed it aside in such a callous manner. Still, as you say, it is completely empty. Even though I have no eyes, I can see this plain as day through the Force. Would you like to keep it as a souvenir?" I nodded. "Perhaps I can teach you how to record your own messages."

"I'd like that very much, Master, although I don't know if I've learned any new ideas to teach our Order."

"Sometimes the best ideas are the simple ones we've already learned, presented in a new way. Take this holocron. What's so special about it? You didn't, and wouldn't, think anything unusual of it at first glance."

"You're right: it's empty, and many people would consider it useless. However, it can be filled, and therein lies its value. In the right hands, this holocron can become a relic of the most important Jedi teachings."

"Right you are. Empty vessels may not look like much, but they have endless potential. Do you remember the question that your Zabrak classmate Noth asked? We had quite a lively discussion about it."

"He wanted to know why Jedi are recruited from the cradle, and why we take babies from their families. It seemed rather unfair to him, as he never got to know his parents, but neither did any of the rest of us."

"True. Does it seem unfair to you as well?" I nodded sadly. "I understand your feelings, future Padawan, but the truth is that Force Sensitive children must be trained from that early of an age. Otherwise, if they were allowed to live with their parents until they grew old enough to make this decision on their own, they might not have developed their talents with the Force enough to allow them to become Jedi. Also, we must guide them from infanthood when it comes to our teachings: compassion, wisdom and duty to the galaxy as a whole. It's true that empty vessels achieve their purpose when they're filled, but at a certain point, it's almost too late to start pouring into them. Witness the case of Darth Revan. He was retrained as an adult in the ways of the Jedi, but look what happened. He almost fell to the Dark Side once more."

"He didn't, though," I reminded him. "I guess the Order couldn't afford to take that chance again."