Bankor

Filing more paperwork, providing more kaff. Yadda-yadda. Work was the same no matter where they were, it seemed to Lyseil!

At least she found some time to head to the barracks to find a jedi. One of the benefits of being in logistics? You knew were most people were bunked! So Lyseil knocked on the quarters of Knight Carrack.

"Excuse me, master jedi ma'm!"

"Hm?" There's a bit of rustling behind the door, then it slides open to reveal a plain small room identical to all the others, plus one tall Jedi knight. "Good morning, Sergeant... Panteer, it was." Tethys looks down at Lyseil with a coolly quizzical expression. "Something I can help you with?"

"Sergeant Lyseil Panteer," she introduced herself with a salute, then a bow. Jedi were a bit confusing sometimes in how she should be greeting them!

"Yes-yes! I need a Jedi's help."

The Jedi in question quirks an eyebrow at the double salutation. "Well, you've found a Jedi. What is it you need help with?"

"I need access to the Jedi archives."

Lyseil cleared her throat, as she realised probably more people asked about that. "Ah, you see, I was looking into something that was stolen from a museum here on Bankor, something from a long long time ago, possibly Rakatan time-period. Some of the published works on that I was tracking down seem to be locked in the Jedi archives."

"Oh." Tethys steps aside from the door, opening a hand to gesture Lyseil inside the tiny room so they can continue this conversation somewhere other than the hallway. "Tell me a little more about it, please? I don't have full remote access to the archives from here, but depending upon the subject, I may be able to ask someone to pull it up over a comm call. If it is not too restricted for holonet transmission."

Lyseil nodded with appriciation as Tethys allowed her inside. It was much nicer to speak privately!

"Are you familiar with the Cipher that was stolen from the Emerald Valley Science Museum? Well, there's other tablets like it, supposedly found in Wild Space, and the suspected origin of the tablet is from a machine intelligence of some sort... possibly Rakatan, but also possible it's some species distinct from the Rakata! The details of it are all rather fuzzy, even for researchers like myself, because there's a huge lack of data from that time period - so it would be, like, super-helpful if I could have access to stuff related to that."

There's not much furnishing in the room--apart from and some shelves and hooks for storage, the only places to sit are a neatly made bed identical to every other military cot and a camp stool. Tethys remains standing long enough to slide the door panel shut again, giving Lyseil first pick.

"A Rakatan artifact? Some beings would consider that extremely valuable. Just the thing to conveniently disappear under cover of war." Tethys shakes her head slightly. "But, no, I haven't heard anything about it. Though if you want access to the archives over it, I infer that you do not think it's an ordinary stolen art piece."

"I really don't think it is something merely stolen because someone thought it would look pretty on their shelf, no. While I do think it belongs in a museum, such ancient artefacts could hold all sorts of information that could be dangerous in the wrong hands."

If she had been wearing glasses, she'd be pushing them up from the bridge of her nose now.

Tethys raises a brow again. "Any idea what sort of information? Or what hands it's in now?" She taps a couple of toggles on the small comm panel mounted in the wall, pulling up a chronometer display to check the current time in the vicinity of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.

Lyseil had to give a small shrug at that. "Let's just say I have a bad feeling about this, master jedi. I don't know exactly what's in it, but last time someone tracked down ancient technology from the Rakatan Empire, the fallen Revan found the Star Forge - and used it against the Republic."

She honestly wasn't sure what the information could lead too, but if someone was willing to steal it, it probably wasn't all innocent reasons... at least in her eyes.

Tethys nods. "A reasonable suspicion. I'll patch in, and we will see if the Archivists have anything about this they can release to you."

A holo image of a blue skinned twi’lek woman of venerable age formed for the two. She spoke, “This is Master Huy-tee, Librarian of the Jedi Archive how can I be of assistance, Jedi Knight.”

“And be quick about it, I am a busy woman,” she said with a playful smile.

"Master Huy-tee, thank you for your time." Tethys nods respectfully with a slight smile. She's always enjoyed spending time in the Archives, and has considerable affection for the archivists as a group, for all the time they'd collectively spent tolerating and even helping a stubborn padawan with various projects.

"This person with me is Sergeant Lyseil Panteer, a scholar with the Republic military. Sergeant Panteer is looking into a Rakata-period artifact that has gone missing here on Bankor and hopes the Archives might reveal some answers about who might have stolen it and why." She looks sideways at Lyseil and scoots over, ceding the floor to her.

"It's an honor, Master Jedi," in the matter of someone who introduced themselves as a Master, with the authority of an Academy-teacher, Lyseil fell back on Alderaanian protocol and curtsied rather than saluted. "Lyseil Panteer, of House Panteer of Alderaan." Her tone was considerably more professional and formal.

"An item called the Heraldian Cipher was stolen from the Emerald Valley Science Museum here on Bankor. It's written in a hybrid of Basic and Rakatan script - showing that it predates the Great Hyperspace War. If my memory serves me correct, similar tablets have allegedly been found in Wild Space, and the suspected origin of the Heraldian Cipher and the similar tablets was from a machine intelligence maybe even species distinct from the Rakata. Understandably, the details are unclear and information is limited, considering the lack of data we have of that time period."

"In my attempts to find research on the subject of the Rakatan time-period, in relation to what would seem like sentient-level machine intelligence as the tablets hint at, the trail seemed to be pointing in the direction of the Jedi Archives, master Jedi. They are famous for storing a lot of knowledge, after all. So I humbly ask for access to these relevant texts."

The woman was thoughtful, her lekku swishing back and forth in a leisurely fashion. She listened and the responded after forming her thoughts, “I can consult the archives on the matter, I can’t say I know the details off the top of my lekku. Dealing with Rakatan technology has not served the galaxy well. Is there anything else you can tell me about these tablets, I am searching the archives now.”

"I quite agree with that sentiment, Master Jedi, hence why I am looking into the matter of the stolen Cipher. History teaches us that it is technology best left untouched..."

Lyseil began to go through the content of the seventeen pages she had read, filling the jedi-archivist in on the important details on the subject.

She listened carefully as she searched the archives and responded, “Knowledge is better than Ignorance, but one must have the wisdom and humility to use such knowledge for good intent. I think I found something.”

“These are part of a collection, or were according to this text. At some point they got repurposed by other civilizations. Looks like the original intent, as per this text and research were to archive a conflict between the Rakata and a Machine Intelligence civilization. This text seems to infer that this conflict may have precipitated the fall of the Rakatan Empire. It did not receive widespread acceptance in most circles.”

“Relegated to fringe theory.”

"A machine intelligence civilization..." Lyseil mused out loud. "Fascinating. Anything else on this civilization?"

“They were in Wild Space, but we don’t have much else about them. One of the reaons this theory was never taken seriously. The data was inferred and never fully realized. Whoever they were, they were a formidable, at least for a time,” she replied.

“Perhaps they were defeated in the end, the goals of a machine intelligence civilization would be quite alien to anything we could imagine.”

"Machine intelligence..." Frowning, Tethys leans back into the holovid pickup. "Padawan Zyn described an AI she believed dates from that period. It was re-activated recently and now calls itself HYDRA. She said it is quite hostile to Jedi. The Council knows of it... "

Lyseil's head was already spinning with possibilities. This could revolutionize a lot of theories around the Rakatan period!

She looked to Tethys at this revelation, shocked and surprised, as she waited for the jedi to reveal more.

"I do not know very much else about it," Tethys says, with a glance at the vid pickup. Baesal had said she'd informed the Council about HYDRA, which may mean data bout it went into the Archives. Or not. But nobody had ever told her the topic is restricted, so she opts to follow the time-honored Jedi tradition of act first, ask permission later. "Apparently it was shut down or confined until a year or two ago. Since then, it has acquired a droid body and is pursuing some kind of unclear goals of its own."

Her eyes roll upward for a few moments as she thinks. "Baesal said it came from... Iokath. I remember because I had never heard of a planet by that name before. Whether it was built by the Rakatan civilization or someone else, she did not say."

She shrugs one shoulder. "That this cipher tablet disappeared now could be a coincidence, but there are few true coincidences."

"That really-really does not seem like a coincidence... goodness! This could be quite serious," Lyseil clenched her hands together behind her back to keep herself composed. "I've not heard of Iokath, but if there's some rogue AI running around, matching the description of a sentient machine intelligence, it does seem like these two are strongly connected."

She gave a wry smile. "I may not be a jedi, but my cousins who are keep saying that there is no such thing as coincidence."

"Why might such a being want the missing artifact?" Tethys asks, glancing between the small holo-image of the librarian and the flesh-and-blood scholar in the room with her. "Perhaps the tablet contains some information it needs. Or something it prefers to keep out of other people's hands."