Chapter Text
When Quackity was training to be a jedi, he didn’t think that would lead him to being a secretary for the senate, but apparently not every jedi graduates to sit on the council. Would’ve been nice to know but oh well.
Like every morning, he wakes up to his 7:00am alarm, puts on a business suit (real jedi material right there) and heads to work. He makes enough to still live on the upper levels of Coruscant, thank the force, but he still has to commute via public transportation. The buses on the upper levels thankfully don’t smell as bad.
Upon arriving at work, he immediately senses the tense vibe that has started to take over the place for the past few weeks. More so than usual, everyone seemed a bit more on edge as of late. He can feel the anxiety running through the air, especially around the higher ups.
He treats himself to a large coffee, knowing he’ll need it today. Just as he did yesterday. And the day before that. Putting a coffee shop in the lobby of the senate building was truly a genius idea, even if it may lead to his own ruin.
On his way to his cubicle, he is blocked by a group of colleagues talking in hushed whispers in the hall. As he squeezes past them he can’t help but overhear a bit of what they’re saying.
“He’s one of them too, right?”
“Yeah I think I saw him with a lightsaber one time.”
“That’s so dangerous. I don’t know if I feel safe here.”
He went red in the face upon hearing they were talking about him. Unfortunately for them, he hadn’t had a chance to drink his coffee yet.
“Hey, you want to say something to my face, assholes?”
“Woah man, let’s keep things civil!” One retorted in a mocking tone.
“Oh god, look what you started, Brian.” one of them whispered to another.
“If you need to know so badly, yes, I am a fully trained jedi. You can just ask me next time, no need to start gossiping like we’re in middle school.” Quackity asserted.
“Whatever, man. Just don’t try anything funny. I will not hesitate to tell HR you attacked us.”
Quackity rolled his eyes. This was so stupid. “The only thing I’m trying to do is get to my desk and start doing my job, maybe you should think about doing the same. And I don’t know what makes you think I’d just outright attack you. I’m not fucking sith.”
“Says the guy with the huge scar on his face.”
Quackity froze at that comment.
Noticing his silence, the coworker continued, “hmph, guess that shut you up.”
The guy pivoted and started to walk back to his desk, satisfied that he got the last word. Seeing the man’s back awoke Quackity from his trance, now fully pissed off. “You don’t know shit about me, man!” He yelled back.
“I think I know enough.” He laughed.
“Fuck you.” And Quackity turned to go to his desk. His patience for this guy had run out long ago.
He set his coffee down, slid off his jacket and placed it around the back of his chair, and sat down. He caught his reflection in the black computer monitor. Now that he was alone, or as much as he could be in a cubicle, he traced his hand down his scar.
It spread all the way from just above his eyebrow down to his chin. It turned one previously dark eye a milky blue, and tore through some of the skin of his lips, leaving a few teeth in need of replacement. The skin was rough and red, indicative of a nasty burn.
“Guy doesn’t know shit about me.” he says quietly to himself.
‘But he’s right’, he thought, ‘it’s so ugly.’
He automatically moved his mouse to light up the screen, no longer looking at his own face. He busied himself with checking his emails, writing documents, and coordinating meetings.
After his lunch break, Quackity went upstairs to the main senate meeting room. Part of his job included keeping a record of what was said during these meetings. He and the other administrative people sat near the wall, so as not to be mistaken for speaking members of the senate.
Most of the meeting was largely uninteresting. Today they discussed a new zoning bill, then a lengthy trade agreement discussion, before one younger senator brought up an interesting topic.
“Senators, we all gather here, representing all the planets in this wonderful galaxy. Some large, some small. That is the beauty of our democracy, that everyone is represented.”
“So far par for the course. He could be going anywhere with this.” Quackity thought as he wrote down this nothing burger of an opening.
“Yet there are some in this world that hold immense power. Power enough to face full armies with a single man. I am, of course, referring to the jedi.”
Quackity’s fingers froze on the keyboard, he did not like where this was going.
“We have seen them be an asset, true, when they follow the senate’s orders, but we have also seen them cause more harm than any man should. We have seen so-called jedi masters become drunk with power, turning on innocent people. They have the power to cause great destruction, and level entire cities. They uproot the ground, sear the landscape with their swords of destruction, and can kill with only their mind!”
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Yeah sith lords are no joke, but what do these people think the jedi do with them? They exist to protect people! And swords of destruction? They are a tool for peace. Much less violent than guns, if you ask him.
“And yet, who is it that has the final say in our government? What group can override the senate, which is itself a diverse representation of the good people across the QSMP galaxy? It is none other than these dangerous jedi whose council reigns over us all. I implore you, senators, to consider: are the jedi really the great protectors they claim to be? Or are they a relic of an old era that stands in the way of democracy?”
Quackity did not like where this was going at all. And to make it worse, the rest of the senate responded by cheering. Not a respectful applause, but full on yelling and whistling. They ate it up. Suddenly he felt like all the other administrators who knew him were glaring right at him and the other handful of his colleagues who were also jedi. Further, he could feel the force in the room grow sour, as fear and hatred began to cloud all the senators’ hearts. He knew that this was serious. He had to tell the jedi council.
—
He burst into the jedi temple. “I have to speak to the council, it’s urgent!” He yelled at the person at the front desk.
“Do you have an appointment?” she asked.
“No, but it’s important!”
She sighed. “The Jedi council is very busy, they do not take walkins. If you would like to schedule an appointment, you can fill out this form and I can see if I can find a time for you within the next few weeks.” she droned a response she’d probably said hundreds of times.
“No, you don’t understand, this cannot wait, it's urgent!” She simply stared at him, handing the aforementioned form at him more aggressively. “Here,” he said, pulling out his company ID. “I work as a secretary for the senate, and what they were discussing in there-”
She cut him off “That’s confidential information, you can’t just tell me what the senate was discussing! You could lose your job. I could lose my job! Maybe? But you definitely could lose YOUR job!”
“Look, I’m willing to risk it. It’s that important.” He hadn’t really thought about that but this probably made his argument stronger at least. He tried to make his expression convey how serious and honest he was being, somehow. He hoped she was force sensitive so she could at least vibe check him that way.
After what felt like ages, she finally sighed, “alright, I can squeeze you in for a 15 minute meeting at 4:45. That’s the best I can do.”
“I’ll take it, thank you so much.”
“Yeah, yeah, just don’t tell anyone I set this up today.”
“You got it, chief!” He gave an enthusiastic salute and walked to the waiting area. He had over half an hour still but he hoped they might be done with whatever else a little early.
—
“Mr. Quackity? The council is ready to see you. Right this way.” A protocol droid announced at 4:45 on the dot.
He followed it into the council chamber. It was beautiful. Much smaller than the senate meeting room, but it had floor to ceiling windows overlooking the skies of Coruscant, with gold detailing adorning the walls and ceiling. The council sat in a semicircle of comfy looking red chairs. He hadn’t been in here since he graduated from being a padawan. It still looked as awe-inspiring as it did then.
The council members were diverse in species, but all were old and wise.
One of them towards the center, an avian man he recognised as Master Philza, addressed him first.
“Hello, Quackity. We have been told you have an urgent message for us. We don’t have much time, so please, start whenever you are ready.”
“Thank you, Master Philza.” He addressed the full council, “I work as a secretary for the senate. Though I am… advised against sharing the details of their meetings, a recent discussion they had is quite concerning.” It was very intimidating speaking to this room. He took a deep breath, “they see the Jedi as dangerous, and they expressed great interest in abolishing the Jedi council as a whole.”
“Is that it?” One of the members asked.
“What do you mean?” Quackity was shocked at that response. “One of them declared that they should tear down the council, and every senator in that place was cheering and whooping. I could feel the fear and hatred-”
“Quackity,” Philza again spoke. “I admire your concern, but trust me, this is nothing new. People always fear what they do not understand. This is not nearly the first time that government bodies have objected to the role of the Jedi. I assure you, this is not something to trouble yourself about.”
Sure, that all made sense, but he knew what he was feeling. That was not a normal amount of trepidation in that room. It was violent, powerful. It had been brewing through his office building for weeks. You could cut the tension in that place with a knife. “With all due respect, sir, I can’t help but feel that this is greater than a little suspicion. I was taught to trust my instincts, and I felt the force in that place turn dark.”
“Quackity, it sounds to me like maybe you were the one who was afraid.” Philza spoke to him like he was a child who was caught sneaking somewhere he shouldn’t. “You must be careful not to let the dark side creep up on you. I think you will find that with some meditation, the situation is not nearly as dire as you think.”
He couldn’t believe this. He knew what he was feeling. And here they were saying he was the one being needlessly fearful and angry. No, he was being adequately concerned and alerting the people who had the power to do something about it! “Please, sir, I know this isn’t just me. People are more skeptical, they don’t trust the jedi!”
“It’s 5:00.” The man next to Philza, Master Technoblade, stated dryly.
“Please, just consider-”
“Quackity, our time is up. I appreciate you looking out for the interests of the council, but I promise you, you have nothing to be concerned about. Please, take a day off, connect with the force, and you will see what I mean.” Philza concluded.
The protocol droid motioned towards the now open door. They really didn’t believe him. He was shocked, then angry, then regained his composure with a sigh. “Fine. Have a good day, masters. May the force be with you, and good luck.” He muttered the last part under his breath, then spitefully turned to the door and left.
—
On his commute back home, he could feel the same tension from the office. He could feel he was being stared at. He didn’t even have his lightsaber on him, how could they even know he was a jedi? Well, maybe because he got on at the jedi temple station… but still! He could see a few of them whispering, and he was sure it was about him. “Just in my head, my ass!” he thought to himself.
He got back to his apartment and reveled in not being watched. He changed out of his work clothes and into a comfy set of duck pajamas. He turned on his TV and landed on a soap opera as background while he cooked dinner. Just fish over rice, nothing fancy.
He thought about going to work the next day. He wasn’t sure he was up to it. He didn’t exactly feel at ease there, and something told him that was only going to get worse. Forget just office dynamics, he wasn’t sure if he could sit in on another senate meeting like that. And his notes ended up being pretty shit towards the end, one could say his job performance was being affected.
He flipped the simmering fish to the other side.
For the first time in years, he was seriously considering leaving that stupid job.
It’s not like he ever loved it. It seemed to be all he was qualified for at the time. Apparently his jedi skills were not good enough for the jedi knights. Bunch of pretentious assholes. Maybe now though, since he actually had a resume beyond just force training, he could get a different job. Maybe one that paid a bit more. And didn’t make him feel like a huge target was on his back.
He stirred the rice.
Yeah, why not. If the jedi council didn’t believe him, at least he tried. He warned them. It’s up to them to make the next move from there. But as for himself, he was getting the fuck out of here.
He finished putting the food on the plate and put the cookware in the sink.
“I’m gonna leave.” He said out loud. That somehow made it real. He grinned, and reached to the top cabinet to open his nicest bottle of wine. By this time tomorrow, he’d be long gone.