"Subcutaneous fat has increased by two-point-seven five percent. Collagen fibre realignment and circulation seems to be noticeably improving. Have you noticed an increase in skin flexibility since using the gel we gave you, Emily?"
"Emily?"
Obi-Wan looked up from the report he was reading on Master Luminara's most recent investigative mission to Er'Kit. Doctor Nema was hovering over Emily's prone form on the medibed, a scanner in one hand and the gold skin of her other hand a sharp contrast where she gently shook Emily's freckled shoulder. He tried not to laugh at the bleary mumble of "M'awake" as Emily flinched back into consciousness.
"Do forgive Emily's lack of attention Doctor Nema," Obi-Wan said. "She was rather occupied with exploring the Temple's lower areas with Master Vos last night, and forgot that she needed to sleep."
Emily rumbled out a half-groan half-yawn, scrubbing her hands over her eyes. "I would have gotten more sleep if you hadn't woken me up so early for this," she mumbled in English.
"I thought that the Council had restricted her access to only the public areas of the Temple?" Doctor Nema asked.
"You would be correct - but since when has Council restrictions ever applied to Quinlan Vos?"
"Ah, some things never change," Doctor Nema said, smiling fondly.
"There's a whole mountain under this place," Emily said, still in English, bleary eyes turned to him. "How do you hide a mountain in a building? There were so many tunnels and carvings and weird things lower down. There were these huge like…blob things with long tentacles that were everywhere."
Doctor Nema raised a questioning eyebrow at Obi-Wan. While she'd learned a few of the basic words in English, no-one other than himself or Anakin were fluent enough in Emily's native language to understand most of what she said.
"She's describing the natural tunnels running through the base of the sacred mountain," Obi-Wan explained. "And what I assume is a description of the granite slugs that live there."
"They were horrible," Emily continued, her voice soft with sleep. Waking up for Emily was always a multi-stage process; her tendency to ramble being one of the earlier stages Obi-Wan had observed. "They had like, two mouth tentacle thingies. Who even needs two mouths? What's the point in that?"
"Definitely granite slugs," Obi-Wan said in Basic. "She's just saying how adorable they look."
"Really?" Doctor Nema replied, giving Emily a baffled look.
"I didn't say that," Emily said, her eyes sharpening.
"In fact, she's saying how much she would like one as a pet," Obi-Wan continued to Doctor Nema. "I'm sure we can speak to one of the Keepers in the Temples Zoological Gardens to acquire one for her, don't you think?"
"Master Kenobi - we have detected several translation errors," MEL said, from where it floated near the medical station. "Please hold while we perform a neural scan for possible damage."
"No need," Obi-Wan said, chuckling and waving off the droid. "Master Pelri has been keeping track of all the neural damage I've taken over the years - I'm sure she'll give you a detailed report if you ask her."
"You know," Emily said, slowly hauling herself up into a seated position on the medibed, "you're not even half as cute or funny as you think you are."
"Well, that is news to me," he replied back. Emily rolled her eyes dramatically, but she was smiling at him. Her hair was long enough now that it was starting to fall into her eyes, the silver-streaked curls a fuzzy riot sticking out at all angles. She looked warm; sat there in clothes a little too tight for her now, her face soft with the hazy edges of sleep. She looked…let's just say it suited her, in Obi-Wan's entirely unbiased opinion.
"Is this finished?" Emily asked Doctor Nema in Basic.
"Not quite," Doctor Nema said. "Actually, Master Pelri and I wished to speak to you about something. Wait a moment while I go and fetch her. She should have been here but may have gotten caught up in her work."
"It's not something to be concerned about, is it?" Obi-Wan asked, the smile falling from his face as he set aside his datapad.
"Oh no," Doctor Nema said, waving him off as she walked towards the door. "It's nothing like that. I'll be back with Master Pelri in a minute," she said, slipping out of the room.
Obi-Wan stood up, crossing to stand in front of Emily where she was sat, her legs dangling over the edge of the medibed. He had no reason to distrust Doctor Nema's statement about everything being fine, but the compulsion to check, just in case, didn't seem worth fighting. Emily craned her neck back, looking up at him. She looked healthy; her eyes were bright and clear, meeting his with a questioning expression. Even her scars were starting to fade into pale, raised marks - the angry red soothed away by the gel she had been applying. Obi-Wan reached out with the Force, brushing the tendrils of it over the familiar off-pitch hum of her presence. She felt…good. No sirens blared in his mind; no shadows darkened the vibrant thrumming pulse of her lifeforce.
"Your frowning," Emily said.
"Well, according to you, I am always frowning."
"That's because it's true." Emily tilted her head just a fraction. "You're feeling me up, aren't you?"
"I beg your pardon?" Obi-Wan said, his senses drawing back so fast it nearly gave him whiplash.
"Or whatever you call it. When you use your mind magic on me," she said with a wicked grin, and Obi-Wan was a hundred percent certain she knew exactly what her phrasing implied. "I can feel it, you know. It's like someone's walking over my grave."
"Your grave?" he repeated, not liking whatever Emily was implying.
"It's not meant literally. It's just a saying for when you get that strange shivery feeling out of nowhere. That's what it feels like when you're mind is groping me or whatever."
"Please don't call it that," he said through an exasperated sigh.
"Sorry I'm late," came Pei's voice as she and Doctor Nema walked back into the room. Obi-Wan had never been so grateful for an interruption. "I was caught up in analysing some fascinating samples brought back from D'Qar. Now let me take a look at these scan results."
Obi-Wan was elbowed out of the way as Pei picked up Doctor Nema's datapad. "Ah yes, these are satisfactory. You could do with building up a bit more muscle mass, but all in all this isn't terrible," Pei said. "And if you're running around, trying to keep up with Quinlan, you'll be getting plenty of exercise."
The last thing Obi-Wan needed was Emily being encouraged to join in Vos's mad schemes to delve into the parts of the Temple that most sane Jedi avoided. "Doctor Nema mentioned that you wished to speak with Emily?" he said, quickly changing the topic.
"What? Oh yes, that's right," Pei said, putting down the datapad. "You'll both be pleased to know that Emily has been officially recognised as a level five sentient being under Article Two of the Galactic Republics Classification and Categorisation of Sentient and Non-Sentient Species."
"Wait," Obi-Wan said. "Wasn't that obvious? Emily is human, surely she fell under that classification by default."
"Emily is ninety-nine point two-five-five-three percent human, compared to a Galactic Standard human. This is enough to classify her as a new subset of the human species," Pei replied. "But more importantly, it means that she is considered intelligent and sentient enough to be granted the autonomy to make her own medical decisions. There have been a number of issues Doctor Nema and I have found which we've not been able to offer treatment for, due to the various agreements and treaties created by the Republic when it comes to interference with those classified as sub-sentient."
"What sort of issues?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Well, that's why I'm here to speak to Emily," Pei said. "MEL, come over here. You may be required to translate some of this." The droid drifted over, coming to a stop at Pei's side.
"Emily," Pei said, and Obi-Wan watched Emily sit up a little straighter on being addressed. She had been quiet through all of this, and Obi-Wan could only guess that she may have been struggling to make her way through Pei's more technical explanations. "I would like to speak to you about some medical matters we have found, which we would like to get your agreement on treating."
"Okay," Emily said, after MEL finished its translation.
"Excellent," Pei said, giving her a reassuring smile. "Firstly, Doctor Nema and I believe that we can grow skin cloned from your DNA, to eventually replace the skin scarred by your accident. I have created a new strain of bacta, which with testing, I believe your body will tolerate without an allergic reaction. It may take several months until we would be ready to perform the graft, given the stage we are at with the necessary components, but we would like your permission to begin the initial phases."
"You think it will take away these?" Emily asked, running a hand down the raised skin on her neck.
"That is our goal," Doctor Nema said. "If we can perfect the bacta, you would be left with full sensitivity and little to no scarring."
Obi-Wan was surprised at feeling a small ripple of uncertainty in the air around Emily at this. She began biting down on her lip, her eyes growing distant. "Is it okay if I think about it?" she asked, her voice hesitant.
"Of course, there's no need to give us an answer now. We just want to let you know that this is an option should you want it," Pei said, entirely unphased. Obi-Wan tried to smooth over his features. He couldn't understand why Emily wouldn't want to have them removed as soon as she could. While the gel had helped ease the tightness, there must still be some discomfort from them.
"Secondly," Pei continued, moving swiftly on. "We have discovered early markers indicating the presence of a severe neurodegenerative disease, most likely to begin manifesting in the next thirty years or so."
"There is no translation for neurodegenerative," MEL said, and Pei tutted before continuing.
"Your brain will be badly damaged," she said, her voice slowing. "You will lose your memory, your use of language, your fine movement skills, until your brain is so damaged you will die from it."
Emily frowned. "Alzheimer's?" she asked. Pei shrugged.
"I am not sure what you would call it on your world. It is something we can easily treat with a simple injection and a targeted neural laser pulse," Pei said, then added "-brain scan," before the droid could object to the terminology.
Emily brought her hand up to her necklace, her fingers playing with the white stone. "My grandmother had it," she said softly. "It felt like everything she was, just broke apart and drifted away from us, piece by piece, every day. It took so many years, it's hard to remember what she was like before."
"That doesn't need to happen to you," Obi-Wan said, reaching out to touch Emily's shoulder. She looked up at him, her eyes glittering. She shook her head and looked back to Pei.
"I don't want to have that happen to me. If you can fix it, I don't think I could thank you enough."
"Well, it's a good thing that I don't require any thanks then," Pei said, a small smile tugging at her faceflaps. "Now, to the third and last issue. We have identified an implant in your arm. It appears to be releasing a rather crudely designed synthetic hormone similar to progest-"
"There is no transl-"
"-it is stopping your monthly blood," Pei said, quickly interrupting the droid. "It is to prevent you from having children, yes?"
"Oh, this?" Emily said, reaching a finger up to rub against the top of her arm. "Yes, it's called a contraceptive. What's wrong with it? It still seems to be working. I've not had my period while I've been here."
Obi-Wan almost felt like the conversation was drifting away from him, as he puzzled over what he had just heard. Why would Emily need this kind of device? He knew of such things, of course, but they were only used when a couple wished to wait to have children, or if they perhaps didn't want to have any at all. But still, every time it had been…
"You're married?" Obi-Wan blurted out, interrupting whatever was being said. He was wracking his brain for any memory of Emily talking about a husband or partner, but he couldn't recall anything like that. Hadn't he asked her once, in fact? She'd just smiled at him and shook her head.
"No," Emily said, confusion written in her eyes when they met his. "You don't…people, you know, do things without being married here, right?"
"Yes, it's perfectly normal," Pei said, with a dismissive snort. "Don't pay much attention to Obi-Wan. It is, at times, a wonder to me that he has actually stepped foot outside of the Temple."
Obi-Wan didn't even register Pei's insult, he was too busy staring at Emily, his brain still trying to process everything. He wasn't even sure why it had shocked him like this. He knew that some species, and even some humans, would…mate outside of any sort of marriage or vows. It was just that, with everything he'd learned about Emily's culture, it didn't seem so distant from the Galactic Republics norms. Emily herself wasn't so different from him, in her values and beliefs. In fact, he'd been surprised at how well they aligned; on how many fundamental truths their two vastly different upbringings shared. It was just so strange to realise that this is where they would diverge. Emily sat quietly, frowning back at him, as Pei continued to speak.
"We have far better means to prevent pregnancy without need for something as crude as this. We can easily extract it, and replace it instead with a small device that can be removed or attached by you, at will. It will be far better for your body than what you have."
"I would like that," Emily said, drawing her attention back to Pei. "Thank you."
"Good. Doctor Nema will arrange with you to have these treatments. In the meantime, let me know what your decision is on the skin graft. Take all the time you need." Pei patted Emily's hand, then turned to leave.
"You've not spoken to her about the other thing," Doctor Nema said, stopping Pei in her tracks.
"I really don't want to know what this 'other thing' is, do I?" Obi-Wan said. He'd had quite enough to chew over today; he really didn't need any extra portions.
"You know what I think about all that nonsense," Pei said, waving her hand in dismissal. "Best thing for Emily is to ignore them."
"It is a direct request from both the Council and the Chancellor - we can't just ignore it," Doctor Nema responded.
"Ignore what?" Obi-Wan asked, trying to keep the frustration from his voice.
"As Master Pelri explained earlier, Emily has been classified as a new subset of the human species. To be officially recognised as this, it takes approval from the main scientific institutes of the Galactic Republic. As part of our agreement with the Chancellor - and the Senate - on Emily falling under our care exclusively, we were required to release all information as it relates to Emily, so that it can be analysed and studied by the outside scientific community."
At this Doctor Nema paused, looking to Pei as if she was expecting her to jump in. Pei continued her silence and Doctor Nema let out a heavy sigh.
"They believe, as we do, that Emily is not a subset of the human species. We believe her to, in fact, be part of the theorised progenitors of humanity, as has been widely speculated on over the centuries. We believe her world could possibly be the birthplace of the human species. This is not only based on her DNA, but also on the information she herself has added in to our Archives. The details she has recorded on her species evolution is similar to what many scientists have theorised, but never found any evidence of, for how humans came into existence."
"That is remarkable," Obi-Wan said, looking again at Emily. She hadn't made a sound during this speech, and Obi-Wan wasn't sure just how much of the conversation she actually understood. The mystery of the origins of the human race was one of the biggest unanswered questions in the galaxy. It was like they had just appeared one day, rapidly spreading out into the stars, mingling and conquering and creating new sub-species everywhere they went. The thought that the woman calmly sitting in front of him, could not only answer that question, but was possibly a living ancestor shared with every human and near-human in the Galaxy, was almost too much to believe.
"What Doctor Nema hasn't mentioned," Pei said, interrupting Obi-Wan's thoughts, "and what I am against, is that the Chancellor and the Senate wish to make this information known to the wider public. They want to hold a large gathering of the top scientists, politians, leaders and other interested parties, so Emily can be paraded in front of them like some kind of attraction. Do you know what they have already dubbed her? 'The Mother of Humanity'."
"I'm nobodies' mother," Emily said, her voice raised and a curl of disgust on her face.
"I say that we ignore the lot of them," Pei said. "The politicians just want to use Emily to showboat, the scientists are excited at having something new to poke and prod at. It's best to let the whole thing fizzle out, once their attention spans have significantly depleted."
"I don't think this will disappear as much you as hope it will Master Pelri," Doctor Nema said. "But for the moment, it's best that you're both made aware. We have some time yet, before the Council and the Senate, will expect an answer."
"Though, trust me, if we're smart," Pei said, walking towards the door, "it's best to simply tell them no."
Obi-Wan ran a hand through his beard and sighed. This was a complication they could really do without.