"This building isn't designed to hold this many groups of people that aren't supposed to interact," Hux said, gazing at the schematics on the screen with a frown.
"I am aware," Kylo answered.
"The trainees didn't say anything as far as I know, but they must all have recognised Sahrsa when she ate her meals with them. Why are we keeping them separated from everybody?" Ember asked.
"We don't want them to see the chipped Knights to prevent them from falling back into old habits. They're all mellowing out well. It would be a shame. And more and more of them know the Force. An unchipped Knight who hasn't been reconnected yet could have a severe reaction to seeing that."
Ember shrugged. "They knew not to use the Force whenever Sahrsa was nearby."
"Not using it while in the mess is one thing; if they have to look out all the time, mistakes might be made," Kylo answered.
"They're Knights-to-be," Phasma said. "A simple 'no use of the Force in public areas unless in training' should suffice. If they can't obey an order like that, they're not even fit to be Guard, let alone Knights."
Kylo glanced at Phasma, then at Ember.
"She's right," Ember said. "And, if I understand correctly, there will never be more than one unchipped Knight at the time. It has to be possible to prevent accidental run-ins at training rooms."
"Do they know those other Knights are chipped?" Hux asked no-one in particular.
"No," Kylo answered.
"Maybe we should tell them?" Rey offered. "So they know what's going on? Wouldn't it make them more vigilant about their Force-use?"
Kylo looked at Ember, who seemed to think for a while. "They should follow your command no matter what," she said. "But those who were 7th graders probably trained with the youngest of the chipped Knights. It's not unreasonable for them to know what happened."
"If that means we don't have to separate the trainees from the unchipped Knights, that would make this a lot easier," Hux said, motioning at the screen.
Kylo nodded his agreement.
"That would leave us with the chipped Knights, the trainees' group, the researchers, the Force Knights, the Guard and the staff," Derek said. "To which will be added any and all staff required for the construction of the new building."
"We can orbit those construction workers again," Phasma said.
"All Knights should be unchipped by the time they start building," Kylo said. "But yes, either orbit or temporary, on-site shelter are the best options."
"There's a team coming soon for stability checks," Derek interjected. "That's only a few people though."
Hux sighed and put the plans of all the buildings' levels next to each other on the screen and started drawing on them, squares and circles and lines that followed the hallways. Kylo watched him with interest.
"How many people are on that stability team?" he asked Derek.
"Five."
"In order to section off the researchers, I had to section off a few rooms that remain unused. We can home them there and have them escorted in and out of the building. Either that or orbit."
Rey huffed a laugh. "The researchers are not going to like that."
"Their problem," Hux deadpanned. "Until when will they be here, anyway?"
"Until they're finished with their research," Kylo answered.
Hux merely hummed in answer.
"Sir, I will have to start recruiting new Guards to keep this up," Phasma said. "Either that, or allow high-level Troopers to come in."
"This training on how to deal with Force users," Ember asked, "will it ever be taught to anybody except the Guard?"
Kylo hesitated. He hadn't thought that far ahead yet, having more than enough on his mind already.
"It's a difficult skill to learn and one you can only perform with people you are used to fighting with," Phasma said. "It cannot be taught to standard Troopers, nor troops that switch members a lot. For now, sir, I would stick to Guard only."
Kylo nodded, agreeing. "You can recruit more Guards." He turned to Hux. "But that also means more rooms need to be provided for them."
Hux merely sighed again, deleted his drawings and restarted.
In the end, a major reorganisation of the base was decided upon, making room for those who were yet to come or to be unchipped. The only ones staying in the same rooms were Kylo and Rey, the research team, and the staff that had been at the base from the very beginning. Everybody else was to switch rooms.
The organisation of the Big Switch, as they'd started to call it, gave Hux and Derek headaches. Eventually, they decided to forego afternoon training one day to get it all done in one go. Kylo and Rey retreated to a training room to get some extra saber training in while the Base around them turned into organised chaos.
In the week or two after, it wasn't unusual to find someone walking in one direction, curse, and backtrack. The Guard, luckily, were backed by Efren and thus seldom went the wrong way.
As predicted, the research team balked and protested when the stability team arrived. Only Juan seemed to take some interest in them, asking them questions about their job. Kylo ignored the protests. It meant that Rey had to deal with the majority of it now that the research team had reason to believe she was more than she let on, but she was equally unimpressed.
She eventually shut them up by telling them if they were so intolerant of others, she was starting to wonder if they even deserved to be on the research team at all. Juan had supposedly laughed at that and continued to befriend the others. He also seemed to grow in popularity within the team, while the official team leader was falling out of grace. Rey wasn't entirely sure why, but she was intrigued by the evolution.
In the meantime, Kylo taught Rey how to reconnect the trainees. One of them had volunteered, knowing it would mean both Kylo and Rey had to go through their memories, and probably more memories than was absolutely necessary at that, but stating they trusted both of them with the knowledge.
It didn't surprise Kylo that Rey had quickly picked up on it. He had given her some vague explanations before of the things he had encountered, without mentioning names or giving specifics about what he'd seen. It was a frustrating way to teach, but he didn't want to violate someone's trust.
Still, Rey quickly picked up on time-jumping through someone's memories and had plenty of compassion to apply once she found the moment the Force was cut off. Kylo caught her as she slammed backwards from being thrown back into her own head.
"Are you okay?" he asked after Rey had cursed up a small storm.
"Headache," she complained.
"I know," he answered with a chuckle.
He easily summoned the tray with water and medication that they'd left in a corner. After so many reconnections, they were prepared for the inevitable. She eagerly accepted it. As Rey swallowed the pill and rested her head against his shoulder, Kylo gave the trainee the usual 'don't reach for the Force until we've guided you through it' speech and dismissed them.
"This happens every time?" Rey asked, her eyes closed.
"It does," Kylo answered.
"Ugh," Rey complained. "You would think the Force would be a bit more gentle with those that restore the balance."
Kylo laughed. "I think it's more a side-effect of the Force rushing back in than it throwing us out because our job is done."
"It still sucks."
"I can continue connecting the trainees, you know," Kylo said.
"No," Rey immediately protested. "No, we agreed that I do the trainees and you the unchipped Knights. We don't know if this has any side-effects and Sahrsa's reconnection was already so much worse than this. No. I'll take the trainees."
Kylo smiled at her. "I love you," he said, giving her a kiss.
"If you do, you'd better give me a proper kiss," she teased him.
He happily obliged. Neither of them reacted as the door opened, nor as they heard Phasma sigh and the door closed again.
"How's Sahrsa doing with meditation?" Rey asked when they parted again.
"She seems to be doing well," Kylo answered. "We'll need to run her through the Light/Dark discovery soon though. The longer we wait, the bigger the risk she trips up and reaches for the Force herself. And I want to do it before we unchip the next Knight, in case it causes a disturbance."
"Why not do it tomorrow?" Rey suggested. "There really is no reason to wait and the sooner we take that final step of Sahrsa's reconnection, the sooner we can give Reor a 'go' on unchipping another Knight."
"You're right," Kylo agreed. There was a small pause. "Even with Sahrsa being seemingly fine, I'm still nervous to repeat the procedure," he admitted. "It still feels like we're experimenting."
Rey sighed. "I don't think that will change," she said. "With every Knight we treat, the chip will have had more time to influence them. There's really no knowing when it will have been too long, or if such a thing will happen at all." She looked at him. "Has Jessy relayed the news of possible testing of similar chips to Maz?"
"She has," Kylo said. "Maz has agreed to keep an eye out for it. There's been no update since so either there's nothing to be found or she's not taking it seriously."
"Or she doesn't care."
"I'm hoping that's not the case." He cupped Rey's cheek with one hand. "Maz is still bothering you, isn't she?"
"I can't forgive her for the way she treated me," Rey admitted, an edge to her voice and her eyes turning hard. "I am not disposable."
"No," Kylo agreed, rubbing his thumb along her cheek to soothe her. "You're definitely not."
She looked at him, her gaze still narrowed. "I want to go back," she proclaimed. "After all the Knights have been sorted, I want to go back and show her exactly how wrong she was."
Kylo reigned in his immediate, negative reaction and took a few breaths to think it through. He didn't want her to go back there because he feared he would lose her. The fear was irrational, he knew, but still. If it wasn't that she decided to stay there herself, the Resistance might find a way to keep her there. Then again, who there could possibly hold her back? And Maz would not be stupid enough to risk alienating him again by keeping Rey there against her will or by guilttripping her.
"How would you go about it?" he finally asked.
"You're not against it?" Rey asked.
He smiled at her, albeit a bit strained. "I trust you," he answered. "I don't like the thought of you going back there, but I trust you."
Rey wrapped her arms around him, pressing closer to his side. "Shadow has been teaching me how to, well, shadow," she said. "And I've been working with Quicksilver and Daze on the disappearing act Quicksilver pulls off so easily." She sighed. "That's difficult," she exclaimed. "I don't understand how he managed to trick such a large group like the one at Base Z. I barely manage to keep myself invisible from Daze while having an easy spar with Quicksilver."
"He's been doing it for a long time," Kylo said with a chuckle. "Even if he wasn't aware of it. But how would either help you with Maz?"
"I'm going to scare the shit out of her," Rey said with a grin. "Imagine me just appearing in front of her in a private area, having moved through the entire base without anybody noticing my presence. I want her to know she'll never see me coming if ever she steps out of line again."
Kylo raised an eyebrow, impressed. "Maz is Force sensitive though," he said.
"Which is why I need Shadow's tactic as well."
He grinned. "I would love to be there when you pull this off," he said. "I would love to see her face."
Rey lightly smacked his arm. "Have you gotten so used to simply seeing me every day that you've forgotten I can show you my surroundings?" she teased. "Of course you can see what happens."
Kylo's grin only grew wider. "I think I've been a bad influence on you," he said.
"I think your influence has been just perfect."