Kylo mostly stood to the side and watched as Rey got started in tandem with the group of researchers. Although some were still quite snobbish, it was clear they all liked and respected her.
As she'd been planning to do before Kylo had barged in, Rey first tested whether or not the activated shield would permit her to lift the helmet with the Force. She managed seemingly without any problems despite the frown on her face.
"What's wrong?" Kylo asked, curious.
"Turn off the shield," Rey asked Juan, who promptly did so. "Oh, that's so strange," she muttered.
"Rey?"
She smiled up at him. "Focus on the helmet," she said. "On its shape."
Reaching for the Force, Kylo did as she said. "Okay?"
"Keep it up," she answered. "Juan, put the shield back on."
A small, surprised sound escaped him as he lost track of half the helmet. Everything that was on the inside of the shield disappeared from his senses in the blink of an eye, leaving an odd image of cut-off wires and electronics.
"Well," he said. "It's definitely working."
Rey laughed lightly.
"Sir," one of the researchers asked. "What…" She faltered, making a vague gesture between Rey and him, and the helmet.
He nudged Rey, prompting her to explain instead of him. It was her project more than his, after all.
"With the Force we can…see the entirety of what's in front of us. Like a hologram, we can see the inside as well. Once the shield powers on, everything inside of it suddenly disappears from view. It's a disconcerting sensation." She turned towards Kylo. "I would test next if we could lift anything within the helmet once the shield is on but I don't think we would even be able to find it."
"Probably not, but we should still try," Kylo answered.
Rey nodded and the team quickly set up a camera within the helmet and placed a small, metal cube inside. As a baseline, Rey made it float around a bit before putting it back down. Then, she once more motioned Juan to turn on the shield. She scrunched her nose in annoyance.
"This is not fun," she complained.
Kylo chuckled and tried finding the cube, to no avail. "It's a success though," he answered.
"I can't find it!"
"Neither can I."
Rey huffed a breath and Juan flicked the switch with an amused smile.
"What would happen if you were already making it float when the shield turns on?" he asked.
"Let's try," Rey said with a shrug.
Kylo watched the camera image as Rey made the cube float, swaying it left and right a little. She flinched when the shield was turned on and the cube abruptly fell.
"Are you okay?" Kylo asked, worried.
"Yes," she said, shaking her head. "It's very…abrupt." She scowled at him. "You try; I can't explain it."
Kylo agreed easily and repeated the experiment. Just like Rey had, he flinched the moment Juan activated the shield. The moment the connection with the cube was cut off felt somewhere between a knife wound and a puncture wound but fully mental and without actually hurting. He understood why Rey hadn't found the words to describe it. He didn't really know how to voice it either.
"Sir?" Juan asked.
"It's safe to say that's an unpleasant experience," Kylo dryly answered. "Not damaging, simply unpleasant. How are you planning to test if it's safe to wear?"
"We were thinking of getting a few small rodents, mice more specifically, and put them in the helmet before we turn it on. It should be perfectly safe—I don't see how this adaptation could affect the person wearing the helmet—but it is better to be sure."
Kylo nodded, lightly touching Rey's arm when he noticed some unease coming from her.
"Sir," another researcher asked. "My apologies if this is impolite to ask, but can you manipulate animals? If so, we could test the mind-block on the mice first too."
That seemed to pull Rey out of whatever she'd been thinking that had her so worried. She looked up at him. "Can we?"
Kylo looked back at her. "I honestly don't know," he truthfully answered. "That is not something I've ever tried." He hummed before adding through the bond. "I've killed animals through the Force but that's a matter of stopping their heart. I have never tried to control them."
Rey shrugged. "That's something we'll have to test too then, I guess," she said.
"Good work," Kylo told the research team, agreeing with Rey. "When will those mice be here?"
"They've already been ordered," Juan answered. "I think they will arrive either tomorrow or the day after."
"Let us know," Kylo said. "Take some time off until then, if you want."
He nodded at the group and left, Rey next to him. There was no-one waiting outside the door, Phasma undoubtedly still getting the team leader processed.
"You haven't stopped frowning since those mice were mentioned," Kylo mentioned, glancing at Rey. "What's wrong? Are you feeling for them? They should be fine; it's just a precaution."
Rey shook her head, her frown only worsening. "No," she said. "But… What would happen if we put it on?"
Kylo merely hummed questioningly, unsure about what she meant. He gave her his full attention as she stopped walking.
"What if we were to put on the helmet and activate the shield?" Rey elaborated. "It would be around our head. These shields were originally made so Force users couldn't influence the Force outside their cells, but what if the cell is so close to our head?" She looked up at him, eyes wide. "Ben, would it cut us off?"
He stared at her in horror, finally understanding the implications of what she was saying. The mere thought of it was horrendous. He couldn't even start to imagine what being without the Force would be like. Even when he wasn't manipulating it, the Force was always there. To think that they'd created something with the sole purpose of helping others against influence but at the same time creating something that could be used against them was harrowing.
"It would, wouldn't it?" Rey whispered.
"We can't be sure," Kylo answered, despite his unease. "It might not cut us off from the Force entirely, but merely from all Force that's outside of ourselves."
"What's the difference?"
"We would still know it was there. That it isn't lost."
"Did we just build our own prison?"
Kylo stepped closer and pulled her into a hug. "Maybe," he agreed, not wanting to lie and his mind going over all the possible consequences. "But they would have to get the helmet on us first. And it's not all bad. If ever a Knight goes Dark, it could be a way to control them. It could give us time to rehabilitate them instead of having to kill them because we can't control them."
Rey sighed against him, her arms coming up to hug him back. "I'm sorry," she said. "For freaking out like this. I don't want to become someone who would cut people from the Force. You're working so hard to give it back to them and I realised- I realised-"
"We," Kylo intercepted. "We are working on giving them the Force back. It's not just me. And this is nothing like the program Snoke put together. We weren't aiming for this outcome; we were aiming to protect our Guard. The fact that we both abhor this unexpected, second outcome should mean that we're nothing alike, right?"
"You're right," Rey said, nodding. "Of course, you're right."
He stepped back and gave Rey a short kiss. "Come on," he said. "Let's go find Derek and figure out how to punish the asshole."
Rey chuckled, easing Kylo's nerves as well.
Deciding on the team leader's punishment turned out to be more complicated than expected. The problem was that the team leader clearly knew too much and thus shouldn't be allowed to talk to anyone. Kylo wanted to keep him alive so he could send him off to an outpost and into a position where he had absolutely no meaning whatsoever.
Derek seemed conflicted about the entire thing and Kylo knew it was because the situation wasn't entirely clear-cut. There was no punishment for what counted as gossiping. Purely according to the book, the team leader hadn't done anything wrong. His only mistake was that he'd insulted the wrong woman.
Kylo knew that he was letting his emotions guide him in this, but even if he admitted that and stepped back, there was not much to be done about it. The man couldn't be reinstated as the team leader of this particular group, nor could he be allowed to talk to anybody else.
"We can ship him back to the Supremacy and keep him in solitary confinement there," Phasma, who had returned not long after Kylo and Rey had arrived at his office, offered. "At least until what we are doing here becomes public knowledge. We could keep him confined here as well, but it would be a strain on the Guard and we honestly don't have the right facilities to keep anybody imprisoned here."
"Can we guarantee that nobody will talk to him there?" Kylo asked.
"Yes, sir," Phasma answered.
"There are indeed protocols for situations like these," Derek added.
Kylo looked at Rey who merely shrugged at him.
"I don't think we have another choice?" she said.
"I guess not," Kylo agreed with a sigh. "Get him transferred."
"I would like to transfer him myself, sir," Phasma said. "And take the opportunity to review a few Troopers Efren has selected as possible candidates to become part of the Guard."
"Already?" Kylo asked.
"We've always kept an eye out for talent, sir, especially knowing that this base would grow. Plus, you can't stay here forever and, at that point, there will have to be enough Guard to both secure this base and guard both you and Miss Rey."
Kylo blinked at her. She had clearly been more mindful of the situation and the future than he'd been. He nodded. "Very well," he said. "Do you have a specific date in mind?"
"After the next reconnection," she immediately answered. "I want to make sure our black-out protocols run as foreseen before I leave."
"You can hold him confined here in the meantime?" Kylo asked. "We don't know when the reconnection will happen. It might be tomorrow, it might be in a week, depending on when the other Knight wakes up."
"I might need one of our Knights' help upon occasion," Phasma admitted, "but we should manage."
"What about the trainees?" Rey asked.
"The trainees?" Kylo echoed.
Rey shrugged. "It's nothing but guarding a door, isn't it? Call it job-experience."
"What if he tells them about the helmet?"
"Does that really matter? If things continue to run smoothly, they'll find out sooner rather than later."
Kylo had to admit that was true and turned a questioning gaze on Phasma, who stayed silent for a moment.
"If there's two of them," she eventually said. "So they always have back-up in case something were to happen."
"Very well," Kylo said. "Now let's get to lunch before we miss out on it. The trainees can be informed of their new task after meditation."
"I'll have a schedule drawn up by then, sir."
"Don't forget to eat yourself," Rey lightly chided Phasma.
"I will think while eating," Phasma deadpanned.
Rey shook her head with a small laugh. "Do that," she said, before guiding them all out of the office so they could have lunch.
When Rey showed up at Force training after the meditation session, it was with an amused yet slightly exasperated look on her face. Kylo shot her a curious look.
"She's lecturing them on protocols," Rey said with a huff. "Phasma came in, told me she wished to address the trainees herself, called them to attention, informed them of their new job, and started lecturing them. I left her to it."
Kylo laughed. The others turned inquiring eyes on them so Rey explained again.
"Ugh, those are the worst," Rogue exclaimed.
"This, too, is something they have to learn," Ember said.
Kylo shot her an incredulous look. "Says you?" he intoned.
"Ooh," Shadow said, sounding way too intrigued. "What happened? Tell me!"
"You gossip too much," Dot dryly said.
"It's not gossip," she countered. "It's information. Knowledge."
"Whatever you say."
"It's nothing," Ember said dismissively. "And you can't expect those trainees to guard a door without knowing what the protocols are."
"You had quite the reputation before you joined our Supreme Leader, didn't you?" Burman said.
"Burman, shut up or I will make you!"
"After too," Kylo muttered. "It was a slow improvement."
Ember glared at him.
"What?" Kylo asked. "You're going to make me shut up too?"
"Let's spar," Ember answered with a glare. "Dirty."
Kylo grinned. "You're on," he agreed.