Star Wars: Trial or Test

Ian ruminated on Ray's suggestion to learn the dark side. He held a certain level of trust in the Je'daii masters, as it at least seemed they wanted to teach him the force in its totality; both light and dark, without turning him into the hypocritical Jedi, or the megalomaniac Sith. But having watched the films, and seen the fall of Anakin as he became Darth Vader, he held a certain prejudice against the dark side.

"Is that really a good idea?" Ian asked; apprehensive at learning something that could alter who he was... Who he would become.

Ray stared intensely at Ian for a moment, before replying, "Humph! It seems you know something of Bogan then boy, and no, if possible it is never wise to learn Bogan unprepared and untested... hence the test, and as for preparation. Need I say it, would you really allow these people; who you owe a debt, to die because you wanted to take things steady... Without risk? If so, you may as well return us to the -Beep- Grrr... The 'arc', and be on your way!"

Ian gritted his teeth in frustration; feeling that the situation was forcing him to make a decision and one that he was not entirely sure was right. "Fine, give me the damn test, but I swear to god if I get the sudden urge to kill children or blow up a planet or..." Ian tapered off at the end, he didn't even want to think about it.

Ray gave a grunt and a system message appeared in front of Ian.

~~~

("Grandmaster Ray has suggested to you the Test: Finding Evil. Warning! This is a Padawan rank Test-- Do you accept?")

~~~

Ian replied curtly with a yes, and similar to when Illus taught him Force Sense, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he found himself somewhere different.

---

Above Ian, through a series of grated panels, a dusky red light illuminated his surroundings. He was in a room formed by eight walls of twisted and intersecting steel pipes, there was no entrance... or exit, and in front of each wall was an upright mechanical table, complete with various restraints and bindings.

Ian was in his own body; to be precise his new body, at the centre of the room, and with fully functioning movement Ian confirmed to himself, this was definitely not a memory.

"What exactly am I supposed to be doing? The test was called... Finding Evil, so..." Ian started to speculate, but the system quickly cut through his train of thought and told him directly what he needed to do.

~~~

("In a short moment, eight prisoners will appear in this room, and it is up to you; the inheritor, to determine the true villain among those present. Pursuant to this, you can ask any individual three questions, which will be answered truthfully to the interrogatee's knowledge. But If the inheritor fails to determine the villain, he will be unable to learn Bogan for a period of one year, and if the inheritor accuses the wrong person, both Bogan and the combat arts will be prohibited... permanently.")

~~~

After the system finished speaking, around Ian, and appearing out of thin air, the eight prisoners spawned in. They were strapped onto their respective mechanical tables; bound, and at a glance, appeared unconscious. Each figure was different, varying from a petite human girl, that was pretty and innocent-looking to what Ian recognised as being a Hutt, a large slug-like monstrosity who's kin, in the films at least, was a well know antagonist: Jabba the Hutt.

Ian let out a sigh...

Preceding his death, he had been a beat cop, patrolling out of a personal choice due to his 'luck', so he hadn't taken part in any interrogations before. But he had watched plenty from observation; behind the one-way mirrors that were often seen on TV. That experience combined with his slew of unlucky encounters and his innate understanding of people, allowed him to realize just how hard this was going to be.

How were you supposed to figure out if someone was evil in just three questions?