Four days later.
"You'll probably think I'm lying, but one of my relatives was once a Jedi" The cyborg said casually as he tinkered away at a circuit board, trying not to be too obvious when looking for her reaction.
"Oh really? That sounds a little farfetched, Jedi can't form attachments, it's forbidden. Even if what you say is true, whoever they are, they're not the person you know. They'd have forgotten about you; their earliest memory would be of the Jedi." The fallen padawan responded, almost proud of her in depth knowledge.
Cayde paused, he already knew what she said was true, but somehow it hurt more hearing it from somebody else. "Some attachments, you can't hide them, can't bury them away. The bonds between husband and wife, parents and children… brother and sister… My sister. She was taken by your order years ago, I'm sure she would've been a great Jedi one da-"
"Would have?" The girl interrupted.
He drew a deep breath before exhaling "Yes… Unfortunately, she died. Her master's cruiser was intercepted trying to join the battle of Bothawui. Nothing was salvaged, but the cruiser Dawnbreak was declared lost with all hands" A long silence followed, neither one of them sure of what to say. What seemed like a good ice breaker in Cayde's head had suddenly reignited his trauma.
However, the silence was cut short when Barriss said a single name "Jona" To this, Cayde looked up instantly at the prisoner. "Her name was Jona Durann, wasn't it? I remember her, she was kind."
Another brief silence before the officer responder with a thank you. Not much else was said that day, nothing personal, anyway. Just the usual small talk, what's going on with the war, talking about the republics victory over Annaxes. For Barriss, it was nice to have someone to talk to, growing up in the temple, she didn't have many friends besides Ashoka… Ashoka… Barriss hoped she was okay, wherever she may be. Word had even made it to the guards that the famous Anakin Skywalker's padawan had left the order after being wrongfully accused of treason. In a small way, Barriss was glad that she came to that decision, but she still regretted what led to it.
Another four days had passed and Barriss had waited patiently for one of the only people worth talking to anymore. If only to enlighten him on how the Jedi are supposed to be. Protectors of the peace, guardians of the people, worriers of the light. Not the Generals, the instruments of war, the supernatural element of battle, she hated that the Jedi Council had essentially conscripted the entire order to fight in a war that they had no right participating in.
In a way, she could slightly understand why the Jedi were even allowed to lead troops into battle. More than three thousand years ago, Jedi knights splintered away from the Order to fight in the Mandalorian wars, Revan being the most efficient General of his time, she could see why some might think the Jedi of todays Order would be just as efficient. But these were not the Mandalorian wars, the Republic had seen peace for over a thousand years since the Sith were presumably extinct. The Order had grown complacent, so set in their ways of peace that they were under prepared for the clone war.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw Cayde patrol the corridor and talk to the other prisoners. Tanuk and Ordera rarely said much to the cyborg, if anything at all. They had essentially given up in many ways, given up on themselves, given up on talking, given up on people. It worried Barriss that she might end up like that soon despite having a companion to talk to, although she only ever really talked to Cayde every few days. The clone guards barely even acknowledged her presence, she couldn't blame them, their brothers had been caught in the blast of her bomb.
Speaking of clones, Slick was slightly more talkative to the cyborg guard, if only to insult him, comparing people like Cayde to the perfected clones of the GAR, both physically and mentally. Still, Barriss could see that the guard took it without offence, she could see the effect talking to someone with a different face had for Slick, it made him feel less lonely. She figured that was why he even gave her any attention at all, they were fairly similar in the ways that mattered. She didn't mind talking to him, he wasn't the only one who didn't want to feel alone.
Brytt never shut up. Whenever Cayde inspected his cell, the Houk gladiator would talk for hours about his many battles in the arena. Barriss had never seen such pride in violence before, well, except maybe the typical Mandalorian. But even Fon didn't boast about his battles in such a way, his people follow a code of honour, battle to better oneself. What Brytt describes was pride of slaughter, despicable to most. Nevertheless, Cayde listened and Brytt enjoyed talking, he was happy as one could be, given the circumstances. Barriss understood the Houk's need to reminisce, his species lived for hundreds of years, if they didn't talk about their lives, they'd surely forget most of it.
Finally, it was her turn as Cayde made his way to her cell. One question Barriss wanted to know with her favourite guard was what he thought of the Jedi, sure she knew about his sister, but she wanted to know if that had an impact on his opinion. The Mirialan had spoken to many citizens of the Republic who distrusted the Jedi, but other than Letta, none of them had such a personal reason to despise them. She wanted to know what he thought of the Jedi because deep down, she wanted to know what he thought of her actions. Does he condone them? Does he hate her? If he did, would he be as talkative to her as he already is? He's shown no hatred, no bitterness, no anger. Who was she to him?
Unfortunately, the question would not be answered today as suddenly, the prison alarms rang out followed by a clones voice over the intercom "All units! This is a code red! Secure all prisoners and escort priority inmates to the lower levels. Officer Durann, report to the central terminal, operation breakout contingency! Coruscant is under attack! I repeat, the Separatists have invaded!"