INT. BUNKER 13/LEVEL 9/ANAKIN & NASHIRA'S QUARTERS/KITCHEN - DAY
Nashira is busy preparing a meal on small stove when the door into the main room slides open and Obi-Wan, Siri, Anakin, and Orowi come sauntering in. Turning to face him, she sees the grim expressions on all of their faces, and her face in turn goes stoney.
NASHIRA: What's happened?
SIRI: Anakin got into a fight with an Abyssin.
OROWI: Gurkan.
Hearing that, Nashira rushes over to Anakin and takes his face in her hands, cradling it worriedly.
NASHIRA: Oh, Nik, are you okay?
ANAKIN: Yes ... yeah, I'm fine, 'Shira. Just fine.
Pushing past her, he walks over to the main round table and props down in a seat behind it, where he proceeds to massage his left temple.
NASHIRA: (turning to the others) Why did he get into a fight with Gurkan?
OROWI: Gurkan made some rather ... unflattering comments regarding the relationship between the two of you.
NASHIRA: (dumbfounded) Anakin and me? But we're just friends.
OROWI: Gurkan's a straight-up bastard. He can't sleep at night without spewing trash in other peoples' faces.
NASHIRA: But Nik's okay, right? Gurkan didn't hurt him.
OBI-WAN: (grave) No, Nashira, Gurkan didn't hurt him.
NASHIRA: (relieved) Well, that's good then, right? He could have if he really wanted to.
OBI-WAN: (cont'd) Anakin hurt him.
NASHIRA: (narrows her eyes) You're not serious.
OBI-WAN: Dead serious.
OROWI: Nik really wailed on him -- beat the living pus out of the monocular bastard.
SIRI: He could have killed him if we hadn't arrived when we did.
Her mouth agape, Nashira turns to face Nik.
ANAKIN: Are they on the level, Anakin?
ANAKIN: (shakes his head wearily) Yeah, yeah, it happened like they say.
Nashira then walks over to Anakin and, sitting down beside him, puts her hands down over one of his.
NASHIRA: Is he gonna be alright?
ANAKIN: Siri said so.
NASHIRA: (smiles) Then there's nothing to worry about.
Obi-Wan's mouth drops open upon hearing those words.
OBI-WAN: (incredulous) Excuse me?
NASHIRA: (turns to Ben) Nik didn't really hurt him. I mean he didn't hurt him bad enough to put him in the infirmary.
OBI-WAN: That's beside the point, Nashira. He let his anger get the best of him -- he opened himself to the dark side. Don't you realize how dangerous that can be?
NASHIRA: (rolls her eyes) Oh, not this again.
OBI-WAN: (stepping towards Nik and 'Shira) You may not believe in the dark side, Nashira, but it is very real and very present and Anakin is exposed to it. If he continues to let his anger slip, it will bring him in tune with the darkness and eventually corrupt his soul.
NASHIRA: (frowns) Gurkan's a bully and a pig. He got what he deserved. (turns back to Anakin, her frown turning to a smile) Besides, Anakin did it for me because I'm his friend. How can that be dark?
Obi-Wan, realizing nothing he can say will ever be able to break through Nashira's childish naiveté, goes silent, pursing his lips in indignation.
INT. BUNKER 13/LEVEL 34/OBI-WAN, SIRI, & PRIMEDAY'S QUARTERS/MAIN ROOM - TWILIGHT
Hours later, Ben and Siri return to their quarters on Level 34. Opening their door, they step inside to find Primeday Surprise sitting in wait for them at the small round table. Together, the two Jedi walk over and plop themselves down on the couch sitting to the right side of the H'nemthe.
PRIMEDAY: Have a good time? How was your meal?
SIRI: It was very good, Primeday. You should have joined us.
PRIMEDAY: (waves her hand dismissively) They weren't serving my dish.
OBI-WAN: You can't eat Primeday Surprise every day -- that's why it's called "Primeday Surprise", not "Everyday Surprise".
PRIMEDAY: Each day is Primeday if you think beyond the three dimensions.
SIRI: Primeday, it isn't good to eat the same thing all day everyday. You get sick without a balanced diet.
PRIMEDAY: Bah! More three-dimensional thinking! A diet of Primeday Surprise is a balanced diet.
OBI-WAN: Not in this universe.
PRIMEDAY: Exactly! Now you begin to understand!
Ben and Siri exchange glances.
SIRI: Do you?
OBI-WAN: Ask me when I'm less than sober.
PRIMEDAY: Anyhow, I put some tea on the stove for you. Go have some if you feel like it.
SIRI: That sounds like a good idea. Thank you, Primeday.
Siri enters the kitchen, walks over to a cabinet, opens it up, then reaches in to retrieve a hard plastic cup.
SIRI: Will you be having any, Obi-Wan?
OBI-WAN: That depends. (turns to Primeday) What type of tea is it?
PRIMEDAY: (smiles) It varies.
OBI-WAN: Clear, concise, and to the point as always. (to Siri) Make me one, anyway.
Siri retrieves the two cups and then saunters over to the stove. When she reaches for the kettle, however, she finds that not only is the burner not on, but there is no kettle upon it at all.
SIRI: There is no tea.
PRIMEDAY: Pardon?
SIRI: (gestures toward the bare stovetop) The stovetop, Primeday, there's no tea on it. It's completely bare.
PRIMEDAY: (sighs) It is there, Siri, just not here and now.
Hearing this, Obi-Wan facepalms. The H'nemthe notices this action, and it doesn't please her one bit.
PRIMEDAY: (gestures towards him with her cane) I saw that, Ben Kenobi, don't think I didn't!
Slowly pulling his hand away, Obi-Wan merely stares at this strange non-human woman.
PRIMEDAY: (fuming) Always -- always -- you disregard my wisdom! Condescend to me like you would a child and regard me with all the affection of a serpent, you do! Well, I am not going to stomach it any longer! (rises to her feet) I'll be going to bed early! Goodnight!
SIRI: (resigned) But Primeday --
PRIMEDAY: (throws up her hand) I say goodnight!
With that, Primeday walks away into the single bedroom. Not a minute later, the sound of her gentle snoring can be heard coming from within.
SIRI: (sighs) I'm going to put on some tea myself. You still want some?
OBI-WAN: Not really, no. Primeday's killed my thirst.
Retrieving the kettle, Siri fills it with water and then puts it on the stove burner. Turning away from the stove, she walks over to Ben and sits down beside him on the couch.
SIRI: It's still getting to you, isn't it? What happened with Anakin?
OBI-WAN: Of course -- shouldn't it? He is my apprentice, and it is my job to see that he learns the proper ways to channel the Force.
SIRI: But it's hard, isn't it?
OBI-WAN: Yes, it is. He's exposed to Vizsla's teachings every day, but I can only be there for him for a couple of hours, and only on a day or two a week. It's impossible to train him as a Jedi under these circumstances. Perhaps if we'd had more time together before we were captured, if he had received more training ...
SIRI: If he had been selected for training at a younger age, you mean.
OBI-WAN: Yes, I suppose. (beat) And then there's Nashira. (beat) She needed him at the time, and I'm glad that he was there for her, but I'm starting to think that she may turn out to be a bad influence on him.
SIRI: Yes, I see what you mean. She's ignorant of the dark side. She coddles Anakin when she should be rebuking him.
OBI-WAN: She's only a child, and she's never known the Jedi way, so I don't hold it again her. But she and Anakin have grown close, and they are growing closer. (beat) I don't think Anakin's emotionally dependant on her -- not like she is on him -- and so I don't think he's ... become enslaved to her -- her whims, her opinions. But that could change in the future. If he hasn't learned to discipline himself by then, if he hasn't learned to resist the dark side, then God help us.
SIRI: (sighs) This is why it's easier for us.
OBI-WAN: (confused) Easier? Easier for whom? What are you talking about?
SIRI: I was talking about the Coruscanti Order. (beat) It is easier for us because we train our children from infancy, build them up from the beginning to be resistant to the dark side, and keep them from being reared alongside those who hold to beliefs contrary to the Jedi Creed.
OBI-WAN: (laughs incredulously) I don't believe it.
SIRI: (frowns) What?
OBI-WAN: You're proselytizing me -- giving me a sermon on the blessed virtues of the Coruscanti Order. (beat) You should hear yourself.
SIRI: Well, you have to admit that if Anakin had been discovered at a young age and reared by us, he never would have grown up vulnerable to the temptations surrounding him now.
OBI-WAN: No, instead he would have grown up to believe that he was some sort of chosen one -- a demigod superior to everyone who wasn't blessed with the gift of becoming a Jedi Knight.
SIRI: (angry) That isn't what we believe at all. That isn't what I believe at all.
OBI-WAN: Then enlighten me, Siri.
SIRI: Non-Jedi are not evil and they aren't inferior. However, their philosophies often run contrary to Jedi doctrine. Exposing nascent Jedi to these philosophies could skew their outlook on the Force, poison their minds against the Jedi way and lead them on the path to the dark side. Isolating our children from non-Jedi until they are of a discerning age only serves to remove stumbling blocks from the straight and narrow path that is our way of life.
OBI-WAN: That may be all well and good for the children born into the Order -- children who have friends and family who are also Jedi. But what of those Jedi who weren't born into the Coruscanti Order -- those who came from non-Jedi families? Why must they be denied the love and companionship of their mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters for the sake of a "straight and narrow path" that they weren't of discerning age to choose for themselves in the first place?
SIRI: Personal sacrifices must often be made for the greater good. That is a fact implicit in the Jedi Code.
OBI-WAN: Ah, yes, the Jedi Code: "There is no emotion; there is peace. There is no ignorance; there is knowledge. There is no passion; there is serenity. There is no death; there is the Force". (beat) You are aware of the history behind the Code, aren't you?
SIRI: Of course. Any Jedi worth his or her salt knows the history of the Jedi Code.
OBI-WAN: Then you know that the Jedi Code wasn't originally a code at all, but a surviving fragment of an unpublished volume written by the Jedi master Odan-Uur which was destroyed in the Great Sith War. Divorced from its original context, the Jedi Code was only codified as such centuries after the fact, in the wake of the Kunist Insurrection. Therefore the words of the Jedi Code -- and the message behind those words -- are completely open to interpretation.
SIRI: In your opinion, that may be true. But Coruscanti tradition teaches that there is a plain, straightforward reading of the Code which has been made clear to us.
OBI-WAN: Then I'm thankful that the Coruscanti tradition is not the only Jedi tradition available to choose from.