LAKE NABOO - NABOO
The idyllic retreat by Lake Naboo seemed like a sanctuary of peace, but beneath the surface, tension was palpable. Anakin Skywalker, restless and frustrated by his inactivity, patrolled the surroundings with the impatience of a caged animal. Obi-Wan Kenobi, with his characteristic calm, tried to instruct his Padawan, but his lessons often fell on deaf ears.
Padmé, though grateful for the security, felt the weight of her helplessness, far from the center of political action on Coruscant. It was Kaelen who seemed the most... occupied.
Since their arrival, he had converted a section of the retreat villa into an improvised laboratory. Boxes of parts and tools filled the room, and the air hummed with the soft murmur of power generators and the flicker of holographic screens. While Anakin sighed and Obi-Wan meditated, Kaelen was creating.
His inspiration, now amplified by his recent template upgrade, had become decidedly... eccentric. He was no longer limited to optimizing existing technologies; he was conceptualizing devices that seemed plucked directly from the chaotic cartoons he vaguely remembered from his previous life.
One afternoon, as Padmé tried to read by the window overlooking the lake, her study door hissed open. Kaelen entered, eyes gleaming with excitement, holding a contraption that looked like a crudely assembled ray gun with bits of metal and wires sticking out.
"Padmé, honey!" he exclaimed. "I've had a breakthrough! I present the 'Portable Molecular Destabilizer v0.1!'"
Padmé lowered her book, her expression a mix of curiosity and apprehension. "What does it do?"
Kaelen beamed proudly. "Well, in its current configuration, it can selectively disintegrate organic matter at a molecular level. See that annoying insect on the wall?" He aimed the weapon. Before Padmé could protest, he fired. A green energy beam sparked, and the insect simply... vanished, leaving a small charred mark on the wall.
"Kaelen!" Padmé exclaimed, jumping up. "Are you insane?! You could have damaged the house! Or me!"
"Calm down, calm down," he replied, waving his hand dismissively. "I'm still calibrating the power. Besides, the final version will have a more precise target selector and a child safety lock."
"Final version?" Padmé repeated incredulously. "There's more?"
"Absolutely!" Kaelen said enthusiastically. "I was thinking of an 'Interdimensional Portal Projector' for quick travel, a 'Personal Invisibility Field' for... you know... stuff, and maybe a little 'Pocket Time Freezer' for those moments when you need an extra five minutes."
Padmé stared at him. "Kaelen, are you creating weapons?"
"They're not weapons!" he corrected, though his tone was unconvincing. "They're... tools with potential defensive applications. Think of the molecular destabilizer as a very, very effective pest control device."
The Engineer's Perspective
She doesn't get it. We need to be ready. The Republic isn't going to save us. The Jedi are... well, they're the Jedi. If we want to survive what's coming, we're going to need some creative solutions. And yeah, some of those solutions involve vaporizing stuff.
The 27% is amazing. Ideas just flow. The universe is a playground of twisted scientific possibilities. It's... exhilarating. Sometimes too much. I have to remind myself why I'm doing this. For her.
But also... let's face it... it's fun. After years of being the 'good guy' engineer, it's liberating to think outside the box, to explore the limits of what's possible, even if those limits involve molecular disintegration.
I see the concern in her eyes. I have to reassure her. She's my moral compass in this increasingly insane universe.
A Promise and Growing Unease
Kaelen set the molecular destabilizer down on a table, stepping away from Padmé with a more serious expression.
"I know, it seems... extreme," he admitted. "But trust me. I'm researching ways to protect us. Remember the assassination attempt on Coruscant. We can't rely on the Jedi to be in the right place at the right time. We need our own defenses. And if that means creating a device that can turn a threat into dust... then that's what I'll do."
He walked over to her and took her hands. "I promise to be careful. I promise to prioritize your safety above all else. And I promise not to turn our home into a testing ground for my more dangerous inventions... unless absolutely necessary."
Padmé sighed, knowing his stubbornness and his inherent need to "fix" problems, even those that couldn't be fixed with science.
"Just... be careful, Kaelen," she said, her voice full of genuine concern. "And please, keep your 'defensive tools' away from the kitchen."
Kaelen smiled and hugged her. "Understood. The kitchen is a molecular disintegration-free zone... for now."
Anakin's Disquiet
Meanwhile, in another part of the villa, Anakin watched the lake with growing frustration. He felt like he was missing something important, that the closed-door conversations between Padmé and Kaelen hid something. His unease intensified as he saw Kaelen testing a strange device in the distance—a flash of green light followed by the sudden disappearance of an unknown target.
Obi-Wan approached him, with his usual calm demeanor. "Patience, young Padawan. Patience."
Anakin turned sharply. "Patience? Senator Amidala almost died. We're just sitting here doing nothing while the assassin is still out there."
"We are protecting the Senator," Obi-Wan replied firmly. "That is our duty."
Anakin looked towards the villa, where light flickered in the windows of Kaelen's improvised lab. "I feel like... he's doing more than we are."
Obi-Wan followed his gaze, a shadow of concern crossing his face. He didn't fully understand Kaelen's fascination with technology beyond the conventional, but he trusted Padmé's judgment. However, the growing darkness he felt in the Force warned him that the apparent peace of Lake Naboo was merely an illusion.