Three

The night air of the unknown world carried unfamiliar smells and sounds. The alley I found myself in was overgrown with plants and scurried with the kind of life that always teems where sentients are careless about what they do with their garbage. I bent and studied the litter on the alley floor to see what I could learn about this society from what it threw so heedlessly away.

finding a sheet of a flimsy material covered in images and an as yet indecipherable language I folded it carefully for future study. If I was to make my way in this world I would need to learn the language. Also among the rubbish I found a variety of short metal spikes, small bag containing what was obviously a bodily fluid of some sort, and a short blade. The blade was the most disturbing item, still bearing traces of a dried substance which I deduced to be blood.

Leaving the blade where I found it I made my way quietly towards the street I felt my way gingerly through the litter and detritus. Being especially careful to leave no trace of my passing as I had been trained. Staying in the shadows at the alley's mouth I took a moment to watch the street and examine the buildings. I let the smells and sounds of the unfamiliar night wash over me, letting them fill my senses, getting to know them.

My first glimpse of the inhabitants of this strange world surprised me, they were human! I should have been able to tell this from within the warehouse but their sense seemed somehow different from that of the humans I was familiar with. Outwardly they seemed no different from those people I had grown up with, lived with and worked among my entire life but there was something drastically different about their demeanor. They seemed strangely detached from The Force, almost as if they feared their own connection to it and through it, to the rest of the universe.

The few that passed me were focused almost completely inwards. What little attention they directed outwards was furtive and nervous, laden with suspicion. Those travelling alone avoided making eye contact with others and moved across the street to avoid passing too close to either me or anyone else. Those travelling in pairs or groups seemed less nervous, but were still wary. They seemed to see other people as a threat, fearing violence from anyone unknown to them, not realising that everyone else saw them the same way. Truly this is a sick world if fear rules every interaction between its inhabitants.

The street was narrow with buildings no more than five stories high on either side. In one direction it led to a wider street which ran along a river, in the other it made its way gently up a hill towards a cross street after which it continued to a square. Reaching out I felt that the square was the busier direction and resolved to make my way towards the river. It was only prudent to avoid crowds for the time being, unable as I was to communicate effectively in case I drew unwanted attention. I waited until the street was more or less deserted and turned down the hill towards the river.

As the space opened out I realise that there were no buildings higher than four or five stories, and those there were looked old and not very well cared for. For someone used to the soaring spires and towers of Coruscant this came as quite a surprise. I then realised, as I studied the buildings and the few inhabitants making their nervous way along the street, that I had not yet seen a droid of any description. Neither had I sensed sentients of any species but the sorry and disconnected humans.

This was very strange as anyone who has travelled as widely as I have can attest. Even on the most backwater worlds, apart from those yet to make their way into space, you will always see droids and many species of beings. Another fact which merited further contemplation, this world seems full of them.

I decided to return to the warehouse for the remainder of the night to contemplate what I had discovered and study the writing on the sheet I had found in an attempt to decipher the language. The overbearing fear which permeated the force on this world was beginning to wear on me and I did not want to run the risk of a confrontation without learning more. If fear ruled these people's hearts then they were likely to be aggressive and I wouldn't want to harm anyone needlessly.