A philosophical debate

You are - that is, Firith Mobak is - sitting in a booth in a restaurant by a window. The nighttime skyline outside tells you you're on Coruscant, not far from the Jedi Temple. Lilikai Singan sits next to you, and Damasa Kovani sits across from you. They look like they're about the same ages they were in the first vision the artifact gave you. Empty glasses and dirty plates are scattered across the table in front of you. Judging by their quantity, and by the way your vision is slightly fuzzy around the edges, everyone involved in this conversation is at least a little drunk.

Lilikai: I get what you're saying, but this argument conveniently forgets that Revan was a Sith Lord.

Damasa: Of course she was a Sith Lord! I'm not denying that she fell. I'm saying there were reasons that she fell.

Lilikai: Yeah, stupid reasons.

Firith: It was because the Jedi Council wouldn't join the Mandalorian Wars.

Lilikai: Like I said. Stupid reasons.

Damasa: Spoken like someone who's never had the Jedi Council tell them what they're not allowed to do.

Lilikai: But if she went off and fought them anyway and then got corrupted by the Sith, doesn't that just prove the Council's point?

Damasa: No it totally doesn't! It proves that if they'd given her the resources she asked for the first time she asked for them, she wouldn't have gotten in as deep as she did. She might never have fallen in the first place.

Firith: That sounds kind of like a hostage situation.

Damasa: That's not what I'm saying and you know it. I'm saying the Council is just people. They can pursue the cause of the light and still be wrong. They're not the only beings who understand the will of the Force. The Force is so much more than that.

Firith: We're...not talking about Revan anymore, are we?

Damasa ignores him.

Damasa: The Baran Do Sages. The witches of Dathomir. The Sorcerers of Tund. How many other beings like them are out there, just…connecting themselves to the Force? Experiencing it in ways the Council can't even begin to imagine and can't be bothered to learn about?

Firith: I don't know about "can't be bothered." Why else would they want you to find all of these artifacts?

Damasa: So the Council can make them its own. Anything that doesn't match up with how they expect the Force to be just gets…locked away. Too dangerous for good Jedi Knights to have anything to do with, you know.

Damasa's eyes take on a slightly glazed look that doesn't seem to have anything to do with the alcohol. When she speaks again, her voice sounds faraway and detached, like you've heard Efnir Kis's sound a few times before.

Damasa: The Jedi were purged once before. In Revan's time. It will happen again. We might live to see it.

Lilikai: ...Okay, this got weird. Can we go back to arguing about stuff from 4,000 years ago instead? Or I've been working up a good rant about Ataru versus Soresu styles, if you'd rather.

Damasa is back to the here and now, but doesn't seem willing to let the topic go just yet.

Damasa: What I mean is we can't put everything in one place. Diversity is strength.

Lilikai: Strength is strength.

Firith stands up.

Firith: I'm getting one more drink.

Damasa: I absolutely do not need that.

Lilikai: I'll come with you.

Firith and Lilikai gather up the dirty dishes and take them over to a bar in the back of the building. While they wait for the bartender to notice them, Lilikai grabs Firith's arm and whispers urgently in his ear.

Lilikai: What is her deal tonight? Is it just me or is she really worked up? Even more so than usual.

Firith glances over his shoulder at Damasa, who is pointedly looking out the window at the airspeeder traffic flying by.

Firith: It's not just you. Before you got here, she told me the Council might name her a Master soon. I've heard the scrutiny of that process is...intense. Even more so than padawan to Knight. I'm sure it's weighing on her mind.

Lilikai: Does she even want that? You heard what she said.

Firith: I think she thinks she should want it.

Lilikai: Maybe it will be good for her when she gets there. More freedom, more independence. More of a chance to change the way we do things. The question is, is that actually good for the Jedi Order?

Firith: That's not for us to decide.

Lilikai: And thank the Force that it isn't.

The bartender approaches to take Firith's order, and the vision fades away.