Where Light and Darkness Meet (Part One of the Pallona Saga)

VII

Chapter VII
BB-3

The guest room I'm pushed into isn't one little hut like I'm used to, but a collection of three rooms, divided by the same white metal walls as in the rest of the base. Instead of black detailing like in the commander's—Ben's—room, red patterns snake along the walls. I prefer it to the black, at least. The first room with the sliding door—which also has a key combination I don't know—is completely empty except for one metal table built into the right wall, a stool secured under it. I walk through a wide doorway which takes me left into a smaller, second room. This one is furnished with one black bench and empty shelves set against the far red wall. The thing that peaks my interest most is a black BB unit with the First Order emblem emblazoned across it. It's deactivated for now, but I'd like to have some company later, so I keep the droid in my mind as I walk through an automatic sliding door, patterned black, red and white. This is the smallest room, complete with a bed, blanket and bedside table.
I prefer my stone hut on Ahch-To to this cold, hard place. But for being a prisoner to Kylo Ren, these rooms are awfully nice.
All the worst prisons are the nicest ones, my mind whispers. Ben still threatened to torture me, so maybe he's using nice, clean rooms to soften my  mind, make it easier to sift through. I don't think about that, though. It will be harder if I see Ben as Kylo Ren; if I won't see him as he was before, how could he?
Instead, I go back to the BB unit sitting by the bench. It's perfectly clean, just like everything else in Starkiller Base, but there's a small dent on its front, where the First Order emblem has been painted. It makes me smile, but I don't quite know why.
I open the back of the droid's head, place some wires in their respective sockets, then press the tiny red activation button. The droid comes to life instantly, beeping and rolling all over the room.
"Wee woo."
"Nice to meet you, too," I say, laughing. "What is your name?"
"Beep bloop."
"You don't have one, huh? Let's see... I'll call you... BB-3."
The droid beeps happily, zooming all around the room.
I laugh at his excitement, wondering if it's contagious; some of that energy would do me good.
"Now listen BB-3, you have to stay hidden. Ben wouldn't like to know that I'm making friends while being imprisoned. Okay?"
"Bloop bop, wee-oo."
"I'm glad we're in agreement."
I talk with BB-3, run laps through the rooms, and spar without a lightsaber for hours. Exhaustion hits me, so I wish BB-3 a goodnight and lay on the uncomfortable bed, staring at the tri-colored door. The lights in the room barely dim, so it takes a long time for sleep to find me in such brightness.

I dream about my brother, Kaelic, playing with me in our house on Kijimi. Then I see him being taken by First Order recruiters, sending him off to become a Stormtrooper.
Then I watch myself running through grassy fields on Zeffo, when I fall to the ground, feeling my brother die through the Force. The last thing I hear before I wake up is my own cry piercing the air.

My back is sore from the hard bed, and the bright lights blind me. I have no idea what time it is, but I'd have to guess it's close to dawn. I spend a whole day playing with BB-3, exercising and meditating. I don't feel Solo through the Force at all, making me wonder if he's left Starkiller Base on a mission. I sleep more soundly that night, only to wake up and spend another day trapped in these horrid rooms.
Then, around noontime I think, the Force-sensitive girl appears in my mind. I hope desperately that she hasn't gotten herself caught, that she's here on a secret mission and staying out of sight. Minutes later, her signature fades slightly, somewhere east of my location and higher up. Then I feel blinding pain. She's being tortured, and when I reach out further through the Force, I feel Ben Solo near her.
He's torturing her, I realize, my stomach churning. More waves of pain coming from the girl fall over me, until it's gone. I feel nothing after that. I pray that Ben didn't kill her, that he's only left her locked up in some torture chamber. The expression on my face must include pain, because BB-3 beeps worriedly. I comfort him, letting him know it was only a bad memory, all the while hoping the girl is okay and that, somehow, Ben wasn't the one torturing her.