The next night, back on the ship once more, Laeus didn't expect Dhoril to ask what she had needed to talk about, and indeed he didn't. This time she opened the holocron while they were still in the hangar. They couldn't yet collect the younglings she'd recently talked about with Juvhal, they needed time to make the proper preparations, but she already had an idea of where to go next. Studying it briefly, she confirmed her choice and relayed the instructions to the pilots. As the ship began to take off, Dhoril finally spoke.
"Where to now?"
"Somewhere very different than last time." Was all Laeus gave as an answer.
The ship took off from the hangar, but this time it didn't set off into the sky, rather it turned to the side and travelled parallel to the ground, heading into the endless city beyond. Dhoril looked out, perhaps trying to figure out where they were going, but once more he said nothing and his face betrayed nothing.
They glided over the concrete ground, vast expanses of indistinguishable infrastructure on their left and yet more towering skyscrapers on their right, dozens of skylanes populated with scores of vehicles all around them while they flew their own private path. They continued like this at a steady pace until the lanes began to converge, along with the seams of the blocks beneath them. They came closer and closer together, until all at once the ground gave way and a huge circular hole appeared in the surface. It was almost a kilometre from end to end, and looking down it appeared to fall away forever, a huge vertical tunnel connecting the surface to the undercity. Its metal sides were a mess of pipes, girders and grates, specked with gloomy lights and signs, and marked periodically by dim hangars and entryways for the thousands of levels beneath. The lanes of cars continued, some going overhead and some heading down the shaft and into the underworld.
The Jedi ship followed those cars, descending into the great tunnel that burrowed into the planet. Once again, they took their own path, separate from the civilian cars, and began lowering themselves down into the depths. As fast as a spaceship could be, there was only so fast one could vertically descend before risking losing control and plummeting. Even if one did plummet, it would still have taken at least five minutes to drop all the way to the bottom. So, the ship slowly lowered itself down, the sky disappearing and the stars along with it. Dhoril eventually stopped bothering to look out the window, as the view had just become the exact same scene of the metal walls, to the point where you couldn't tell how far down you were by eye alone, and it made him uncomfortable. He didn't need to relate any information about the place, every Jedi knew of the deep and dark underworld that their gleaming temple sat on top of, even if they didn't like to discuss it often.
Their descent continued for ten minutes. Past a certain point natural light disappeared entirely and the tunnel relied on artificial lighting, yet still it seemed to get dimmer the further they went, the walls became grimier and the air thicker and yellower. All of a sudden one of the pilots announced they'd reached their destination floor. Level 2106.
The holocron's directions for finding the child were very specific in this instance. Instead of a general location or name of a city, there was an exact street, apartment block and apartment number given, alone with exact directions through the streets, even which landing pad was safest to use. Not surprising, after all there was nobody who was going to meet them here and guide them. Some Jedi just under a year ago would have worked out the directions, stored them in the holocron, then left them to it. No one was designated to protect the youngling's family in the dangerous underworld, not even the undercity police were notified, lest their increased presence draw unwanted attention. The family were simply told not to move where they lived, and that was that. Not even any financial support to keep the child healthy. Laeus could understand not wanting to draw attention to the family in such a dangerous environment, but surely some support couldn't hurt? It was too late to change anything about it now, she thought to herself. At least their arrival would end it and ensure everyone's safety, assuming nothing had happened since.
The ship slid itself forward and out of the shaft, landing on the specified pad, which sat embedded in its wall and looked about as official as anything could down here. Laeus opened the holocron once again while still inside the ship. She wasn't going to risk taking it with her, so she opened it now so she and Dhoril could memorise the directions. Before she could do so though, she noticed a fact about the youngling she hadn't noticed before. According to its info, the child was considerably younger than any of the others on the list. Most of the others were about ten months old, as standard, but this one was only four months. Laeus thought this strange, until she remembered everything she had just pondered a second ago regarding the dangers of this place and why the Jedi didn't do more to help. She supposed that instead of directly helping, their answer to the issue was to take the child as soon as possible, as soon as it stopped being totally dependent on its mother. It was a very early age even so, but anything parental could be substituted at the temple.
Putting those thoughts away, Laeus proceeded to memorise the directions, as did Dhoril. She told the pilots to close the boarding ramp after they were gone and lock the ship until they returned. She then put up her hood and pulled her cloak around herself. As Jedi they weren't in any real danger, but it was still best to lay low. Not that Dhoril could exactly lay low, thus defeating the point somewhat, but she would still feel safer. Probably even safer with him displaying his hulking self, very few people would be likely to challenge them.
The boarding ramp lowered to let them out, raising shut again after they departed. The hangar was empty, populated just with crates and wires and the only sound the ambient noises from the urban sprawl beyond its walls. They walked silently towards the entrance to the streets. Exiting the hangar, the environment changed drastically. Laeus was hit with a sudden onslaught of light and smell, and it wasn't at all pleasant. It had been fairly gloomy inside the hangar, and now in the street it managed to be much brighter and yet still gloomy. Most of the light came from neon signs of all kinds of artificial colours that hung just above street level, while dull streetlights far above gave just enough ambient light to be liveable. The combination of the neon signs and dull ambient lighting managed to simultaneously be distracting to the eyes while not actually providing any decent light to the street itself, which remained grey and shadowy. It was almost impressive in its depressing half-attempt to imitate a natural environment, and Laeus swore that every time she came down here it was exactly the same. Were the ambient lights even fitted with a day/night cycle? She couldn't imagine what it was like to actually live here.
In front of her were all kinds of sapients, of all different species. They moved through the street in great crowds, pushing past each other and talking, yelling, standing, sitting, fighting, eating. It was deafening to all the senses, and right up in her face. The shifting crowds and prior lighting cast hazy shadows everywhere and it became hard to discern any face, the boundaries of the street or even where any building was through the underworld masses. Everything about the place was claustrophobic, and for someone so attuned to the Living Force going from the empty hangar to this so suddenly was almost overwhelming. She needed to steady herself.
So, she stood for a moment, closed her eyes, and steadied her breathing, taking the moments to clear her mind. Around her she could hear the rushing, buzzing, and clattering of the street, and could sense the chaos of the life force that moved about in it. She calmed her thoughts until the sensations slowed and dampened, and eventually the noise, light and smells stopped being distracting. She opened her eyes again, and she was able to see through the activity clearly. In this state of zen she had an increased awareness of all that was going on, and she was able to keep track of all the movement in front of and about her.
She moved forward, then turned around to see Dhoril emerging through the doorway to follow her. As soon as he came out onto the street the people around him stopped to gawp, and when he turned his face to stare back at them they quietly put their heads down and took a wide berth. When he turned back to Laeus, she just tilted her head and briefly raised her eyebrows to say 'what do you expect?' His expression remained unchanged.
Making sure her hood was secure around her, she turned back to the street. Taking a quick second to remember the directions, she set off along through the bustling crowd. Dhoril followed behind her again, his hulking form sticking out above everyone else. He was slow paced, but Laeus was slowed to his speed by the crowd anyway. They walked like this through the undercity, winding through various roads and paths that got gradually narrower and less populated, but remained just as squalid.
When they finally reached where Laeus believed was their destination she conferred with Dhoril, who agreed with her. They were on a junction of various roads joining a main street, where big blocky apartment buildings sat on the corners. Laeus looked about for the one that matched the description on the holocron. Eventually she saw it, a fairly unremarkable apartment block with beige flaky paint titled 'Jixuan Towers'. Walking over to the entrance, Dhoril was only just able to fit through.
"Once again Coruscant architecture is terribly xenophobic, eh Dhoril?" Laeus said with a wry smile. In reality she couldn't blame them, and she knew neither did Dhoril, it wasn't every day or even every lifetime that a Lanngiop came to your door.
Laeus briefly inspected the lobby but found nothing of any interest. Quite the opposite actually, the place made her want to leave as soon as possible. The walls were the same flaking beige colour, the tiled floor was cracked, and the whole place was cold. There were no furnishings, and if there ever were they would likely get stolen. Laeus found the lift, but it was out of order, so it would have to be the stairs. Dhoril might conceivably have been able to walk up them if he wanted to, but the steps were quite thin and the youngling was three floors up, so he opted to stay behind again.
Leaving her companion behind, Laeus walked up the cold steps to the third floor, the sound of her footsteps on the cracked tiles echoing throughout the empty stairwell. When she finally reached the destination floor, her feet met grotty and moth-eaten carpet, stained with who knows what. She followed the tight and bare corridor until she found room number 316, where the youngling's family resided. She knocked on the door. After a short while she heard noise behind the door and felt a presence approach it from behind. Then a male voice.
"Who is it?" Laeus could see a little glass spyhole on the door and guessed they were looking at her, so she took down her hood to let them see her properly. She answered in the simplest way she could think of to all at once explain who she was, what she was doing here, and to ease their anxieties.
"It's the Jedi," was all she said. At that she felt the presence withdraw, then a commotion from within the room. Eventually another presence came to the door and a female voice spoke.
"You're the Jedi?"
"Yes."
"You've come for Merla?"
"Indeed I have. Would you let me in?" There was a pause.
"How do we know you're really a Jedi? They told us that other people might want Merla." Laeus considered pulling out the holocron for her, but then remembered she'd left it on the ship for safekeeping. So instead, she took her lightsaber from her hilt, held it up in front of her and levitated it, spinning it in place for the person behind the door to see. This did the trick.
"Ah, ok. Come in." Now that they'd confirmed it was really a Jedi they were talking to, the voice behind the door sounded more rushed and anxious. Laeus was ready to calm whatever nerves they had.
She heard the sound of multiple locks and a bolt being released from within, and the door swung open. Standing before Laeus was an orange-skinned Twi'lek. Her clothes were simple and unassuming, fairly worn as well. The look on her face was one of anxiety, but unlike the other parents Laeus sensed the anxiety wasn't directed towards her, and neither did the Jedi sense a trace of uncertainty.
Laeus was going to ask her name, but before she could the woman gestured hurriedly for her to come in, glancing about the corridor. The Jedi master obliged and strolled into the apartment. The woman quickly shut the door behind her, redoing all the locks. The apartment within, despite looking as much of the rest of the block did, felt much more welcoming than everything else. The walls and carpet were drab and faded, the view out the window was of the dismal street below, but the place felt lived in. It was hard to describe, it wasn't just the furnishing of the place or the personal items strewn about, rather Laeus could sense that this was a place where a family lived who cared for each other, and so the place felt much nicer than it looked. As she was taking it all in, the woman reappeared in front of her.
"Good to meet you. I'm Sarlatta, but everyone calls me Sarly." The woman held out her hand and Laeus shook it. The woman's voice and handshake were unsteady, yet clearly put forward with confidence. Laeus could guess that she had long been ready for this moment, but now it was actually here, and she was speaking with a Jedi, she was fighting to overcome her nerves and only mostly succeeding.
"I'm Laeus," she replied. The Twi'lek said no more to her and instead called out for her husband.
"Mack," she called, "it's really them." She moved into the main living room and Laeus followed her. Once there, another Twi'lek, this time with yellow skin, emerged from another room.
"Hi there," he began. "I'm uh, I'm Mack. You're, uh, really the Jedi?"
"I am," Laeus confirmed. She demonstrated that fact again by withdrawing her lightsaber and levitating it in front of her like before. "My name's Laeus," she said, putting it away again.
"Hi. I'm Mack. I, ah, I already said that." Laeus chuckled softly.
"It's fine. It's understandable to be nervous." She then paused to glance around briefly. "It's best we do this quickly. Where is the child?"
"She's in here. I'll just get her." Mack then went into the room he'd just exited.
"Hey, I just want you to know we really appreciate this," Sarly spoke from behind Laeus, where she'd sat down on the arm of the sofa.
"Appreciate?" quizzed the Jedi master.
"Well yes, I mean-"
"Mummy?" A very young voice interrupted them. Laeus and Sarly turned to the sound, where a Twi'lek child stood. Laeus guessed he must have been about six, and he surprisingly had blue skin. Behind him Laeus could spot an even younger child, a toddler really, maybe about two, who had the same orange skin as her mother and tottered about on two legs she'd only recently learned to walk on.
"Meken, darling, I told you to wait in your room." Sarly moved over from where she was sitting and crouched before the child. "Look, Ril's out now too. Come on, go back inside."
"Mummy, is that the Jedi that's going to take Merla?"
"Yes darling. Please, go back to your room, don't bother her."
"Oh, I don't mind if they're around," Laeus reassured her.
"Well maybe, but I don't want them to be too sad about this." Sarly was insistent, but Laeus knew a better way.
"Miss Lyrook," she began formally, "I would suggest that they be allowed to stay. At their age, not seeing their sister leave would hurt them more than this should. They deserve to know what's happening, even if they won't remember." Sarly seemed hesitant, but conceded.
"Well, ok, if you think that's best." She stood up and let her other children into the room. "Honey, this is Laeus. She's the one come to take Merla." The young boy, Meken, walked forward to Laeus and stared up at her with wide eyes. As he did so, Mack returned from the other room carrying his youngest daughter in a blanket. He stood by the door as Laeus interacted with the children. Sarly went over to him and they talked a bit.
"Why does Merla have to go?" Meken asked. "Mummy always says it's that she can have a better life, is that true miss Laeus?" The Jedi glanced over at Sarly, who looked a bit embarrassed. She turned back and crouched down to the boy.
"Yes Meken, that's right. Your sister will get to live on the surface and be with the Jedi. It's one of the best things that could have happened to her."
"But why can't she stay here?" Meken asked. Behind him the toddler Ril was standing, holding onto the sofa and sucking her thumb, completely unaware of what was going on. Laeus had a set of answers ready for when she was asked that.
"Because the galaxy needs her, Meken." The youngling just looked at her confused. "The galaxy needs your sister, because she can make it a better place by being with the Jedi."
"But I don't understand. Why can't she stay here with us?" Meken's voice was beginning to crack, and Laeus saw tears pricking his eyes. "I… I want her to stay here." The child was on the verge of crying, and Sarly rushed over to his side, crouching down to comfort him.
"Shh, darling, it's ok. The Jedi's right."
"But why?" The child was now actively sobbing and held onto his mother for comfort. Behind him, Ril still stood in confusion, her nascent mind wondering why her brother was crying in front of this stranger. Laeus stood up and let the mother console the child.
"Merla will get to live on the surface, don't you want that for her?" said Sarly. Meken just continued sobbing.
"It's not just my wife's comforts, uh, we are genuinely thankful." Laeus heard Mack speak from behind her, and she turned to face him. He stepped forward still holding his youngest daughter. "By taking her from us, you're uh, you're giving her a better life than any of us could dream of. I know it's… I know she's getting the greatest opportunity any of us will ever have." He looked down at the baby in his arms. "And, hah, she doesn't even know it, haha." He stared straight ahead and swallowed, standing there silent for a couple of seconds. Laeus looked down at Sarly, holding Meken and gently rubbing his arm, who looked back up at her in silent agreement. Mack stepped forward and offered the blanket to Laeus. "Maybe you should, maybe you should take her now."
Laeus silently agreed and held out her arms to take the blanket and the baby within. Bringing it close to her, she looked down at it and the Twi'lek baby staring up at her. Now that she finally got to see the youngling in question, she saw that she had vibrant yellow skin like her father, and dark green eyes that darted about at their surroundings and the stranger above them. The child seemed concerned it was being held by someone they didn't know, so Laeus used the Force to passively exude a sense a calm into the child as she had done before. All children of all species were calmed by the Force, it was the one thing they all recognised.
Laeus looked back up at the parents. Sarly had taken to sitting on the sofa with Meken beside her, who was now just sniffling, while Ril stumbled her way over to them to be hugged too. Laeus decided to do one more thing before she left. She slowly walked over to the three of them on the sofa and knelt down. Meken looked at her, his eyes still wet with tears, and Ril turned around in curiosity at the Jedi.
"Here Meken, take one last look." The boy looked into his baby sister's face and began to sob again.
"Say goodbye to her Meken," Sarly told him.
"Goodbye Merla," he choked out, then went back to sobbing in his mother's arms. It would be painful for him now, but Laeus knew that in the long-term having a proper goodbye would make it easier for him. She then knelt down further to show Ril.
"Have one last look Ril." The toddler couldn't understand her but looked at Merla anyway for a few seconds. She reached out to touch her, but Laeus pulled the baby away so she wasn't disturbed. She knew Ril wouldn't remember this at all, but it was still good to do. Standing back up, she stepped backwards and looked at them all as a family.
"The Jedi are thankful for your sacrifice. Your daughter will have a better life, you have my word."
"Mhm, thank you master Jedi," Mack replied. He looked like he was going to say more, but didn't. Sarly didn't say anything more either, just watched Laeus as she turned and walked out of the apartment, while Meken continued sobbing as she left.
"I don't think that was wise, Master Laeus." They were back on the ship now, heading back up the shaft to the surface world. The return trip had been uneventful; the soothing of the Force from Laeus had kept Merla quiet and content until she fell asleep as they got back to the hangar.
"Why ever not?" Laeus replied. She continued to hold Merla in her arms as the ship ascended, rocking her to keep her content as the light through the windows got gradually brighter and brighter.
"The collection of a youngling from its family should be as quick as possible to minimise emotional distress, you know this. You've said it yourself several times already. Staying behind to give them an emotional goodbye was unprofessional."
"Ah, that may be for the parents. But young siblings are another matter."
"And why is that?"
"Because the parents have had the months to prepare, to get ready for their child's eventual retrieval. They know what's coming and it gives them time to make adequate preparations, especially emotional, so that when the time comes, as you say, the youngling can be taken quickly and cleanly with minimal distress. But young children? They can't do that. They struggle to understand why this is happening, even if they've been told in advance, so they can't emotionally prepare themselves. And hence if you take their sibling away from them like that, you've taken a piece of their life and they have no idea why. It can seriously hurt them." Dhoril paused before speaking again.
"I take it this is accepted wisdom among the Jedi fosterers?"
"Yes. Generations of experience has taught us the best way to approach every situation. And when it comes to young siblings of the child you're taking, they need an opportunity to say goodbye or else it can scar them emotionally."
"It's likely it will do that anyway." Dhoril suggested. Laeus sighed at that, she knew there was truth there.
"Well, yes, but we should minimise the pain however we can. It's all for a greater cause in the end." Neither spoke more on the ride back to the temple, though Laeus quietly pondered on that last sentence, and just how many times she'd said it now.
Landing back in the temple, Laeus took the girl through the corridors and back to the nursery. This time they'd actually succeeded in timing it right, and the sun was emerging over the city skyline. Passing behind the columns, it blinked in and out of view, its harsh glare appearing and disappearing as Laeus passed through the yellow rectangles it threw on the floor. They were a few Jedi around, early risers in an already austere order, though one of them caught Laeus by surprise when they greeted her.
"Ah, good morning Laeus."
"Master Verlis, up early I see."
"Naturally. Advanced lessons need advance preparation." Then Verlis turned his attention to the small lifeform in Laeus' arms. "Ah, is that one of the younglings?"
"It is." Laeus confirmed, to which Verlis moved to take a closer look at the sleeping child. "Her name's Merla Lyrook, she's the fourth one we've picked up now. I'm just taking her to the nursery."
"Well, isn't that nice. Hello Merla." He reached out to feel the child's forehead, then stepped back to where he was before. "Let me guess, you got her from the lower levels?"
"How did you know that?" As far as Laeus knew, no one else knew where they were going.
"Ah, just deduction. That cloth is rags, you were back early, the bottom of your cloak is smudged with grime," Laeus took a look down and saw that this was true, "and, don't take this the wrong way, but you smell like the undercity. So does the child."
"Heh. Well, I suppose we would."
"Always wash after visiting the city, rule one of Coruscant," he joked. Laeus chuckled at it, though its truth was a sad fact. There was a short pause, then Verlis spoke again. "So how many more to go?"
"Another four trips, four more younglings, four more worlds."
"Four more worlds to see and then never see again?"
"Only three, actually. The fourth is… well, I've always wanted to go back." Verlis was about to ask what world she was referring too, but stopped himself as he remembered, instead smiling.
"Well, enjoy it. I shouldn't keep you, I have to places to be myself. Good day Janeir."
"And to you Ikroff."
With that, the two parted and continued past each other. Laeus continued to the nursery, delivering the young Twi'lek to her cot. As she walked back to her room, she couldn't help her thoughts drifting to the world she had alluded to with Verlis. When she arrived, more and more memories came steadily back to her, until she let herself slide fully into the nostalgia, pulling out a memory box and checking old souvenirs and photographs from when she had been a Padawan. They were happy memories. By the time that she was back on the ship with Dhoril she had changed her plan of which world to go to next. She had been intending to save it for last, but at this point, despite herself, she would just be distracted if they went anywhere else.
As she gave the destination to the pilots and the vessel jumped to hyperspace, Dhoril spoke.
"I don't suppose you need any information from me about this world, do you?" Laeus couldn't hold back a smile at that.
"Certainly not Master Dhoril. Ah, it's been too long." Her voice trailed off as she just stared out of the cockpit, ahead into the rushing of hyperspace as if she hoped to catch a glimpse of the world in the distance.