***March 2005 – Jane Doe
“Euh officer where are we going?”, Jane asked the trooper.
“No questions citizen.”, the trooper replied with a filtered voice.
She sighed and followed him on her speeder through the desert. The contours of a city appeared on the horizon as they apparently approached it. She vaguely recognized it: Mos Entha. Yes this was Mos Entha. They entered some alley and there they stopped. As she saw the troopers dismounting their speeders she did the same. Then she saw the doctor.. Vernant. She gasped. What was happening? She looked left of her, at the entrance of some big unfamiliar building. Vernant smiled at her.
“Secure the entrance. Noone is to get inside.”, the trooper ordered.
Vernant gestured Aaricia to follow him, she felt scared but complied. What was going to happen? The building seemed to be some medical facility.
“Sit down on the bed.”, the doctor said to her with a smile.
Slowly she sat down on one of the facilities beds and then she saw the Twi’lek woman that apparently joined them. It looked tired, was yawning and such. Vernant complained to it about this.
“What is going to happen?”, Aaricia asked, but nobody answered her question.
She saw Vernant tapping into some terminal, on the screen she saw the contours of a face. Then he took a scanner to scan hers.
“Hmm plastic surgery?”, she guessed.
Vernant nodded at her.
“Ah..”
She glanced at the people in the room, then stared at the ground.
“Please look into my eyes.”, Vernant said to her with a soft, friendly voice.
She did this and looked into some device, Vernant was scanning her face with it.
“I’m going to make you sleep now.”, the Twi’lek said to her.
“Euh ok.”, Aaricia mumbled.
She should feel happy and thankful now.. because after this surgery she would be safe from the rebels since they wouldn’t recognize her anymore. But she didn’t feel very happy. Why hadn’t they told her about this before? Yes she had thought about this herself too. If they would have asked her then she would definitely say ‘yes’ without pondering. But they hadn't ask her.
The Twi’lek gave her some injection.
“Now count to 10..”, it said to her, then it stared to her with a weird glance.. like it knew her or something. Probably from the Holonet, Jane guessed.
“3… 4…”
The trooper walked away and Vernant smiled at her.
“6.. 7..”
She was being pulled into the void, blackness surrounded her..
“Wake up Jane Doe.”, a voice said firmly.
She opened her eyes, her head felt clouded. Where was she? Why did he call her Jane? Aaricia felt totally confused.
With some effort she managed to open her eyes. Her face’s skin felt weird, tingling and it ached a bit. When she opened her eyes she saw the medical centre after which she remembered what had happened.
“My face..”
“No don’t touch it yet.”, Vernant said to her when she moved her hands towards it.
“Can I see my new face?”, she asked.
“Come-on you need rest!”, she saw Vernant saying to the Twi’lek, slightly annoyed.
“No I can handle it!”, the Twi’lek said back to him.
The trooper entered the room and they all stared at her.
“Hmmm she looks too much like before.”, the trooper said to Vernant.
“Sir she got some hormones. She will grow taller and her skin color will change too.”, Vernant said, “This is the most that I can change. She has been operated on before..”
“Good enough.”, the trooper replied.
“Can I see my new face?”, Aaricia asked again.
Vernant walked towards her to remove the infusion.
“Are you ok?”, he asked with a soft voice, “You have a totally new identity from now on. You are no longer Aaricia, or Sasseke.”
It felt like her heart stopped beating when he mentioned the word ‘Sasseke’, she stopped breathing, her eyes widened. She saw him smiling at her.
What was this? Why did this word make her feel so confused?
“Come, Jane Doe.”, the trooper ordered and she followed him with a sigh.
She waved at Vernant then they left the building, jumped on the speeders and drove back to the base.
“How do you feel Jane?”
Jane felt small compared to the troopers, but soon she would be taller too. Why had they made her taller?
“Well euh ok.”, she replied, feeling a bit ambivalent.
The trooper nodded at her.
“You will notice some changes the coming days. You will grow taller and your skin will get another color.”, he continued.
She nodded, yes she had heard this after the surgery.
The trooper removed his helmet and smiled at her.
“In a few days your training will start.”, he said.
“Training?”
“Soon you won’t be a citizen anymore.”, he smiled at her, “You will be part of the Imperial army.”
“Come Jane, let’s watch a movie.”
She followed Andy out of the mess hall.
“You choose the channel.”, he said to her with a smile and handed over the remote to her.
She laid back on the couch, feeling tired, zapping channels. There were almost 2000 channels and that was only in this sector of the galaxy. She stopped at a channel where Imperial executions were showed. She enjoyed it.
When it had ended she continued zapping and after another 156 channels she found some corny action movie. In the meantime Andy had gotten closer to her. She looked left of her and saw him smiling. She blushed shyly and looked back at the holotv.
Had she ever had a boyfriend in her life? She couldn’t remember. Probably not.. she had never experienced love, or friendship. These people were the first friends that she got in her life. They stared at the movie but Jane guessed that Andy wasn’t paying particular attention to the movie too.. she glanced at him from the corner of her left eye.
Andy looked cute. He was about the same age as Jane. What would happen? She felt shy, she didn’t know what to do or say. So she just kept staring at the movie.
She had to go to the bathroom and there she stared at her new face. She felt weird, she didn’t recognize herself, from the other side of the mirror a strange person stared at her.
After a sigh she returned to the 'living room' and sat back on the couch, next to Andy.
“I.. I don’t know euhm.. have much experience with this kind of things.”, she stammered after another few minutes of silence.
“Huh? What do you mean?”, Andy asked.
“Well with boyfriends and relations and such.” She blushed. “I.. I guess I don’t have that.”
He smiled at her.
“That’s ok.”, he said.
“I don’t know what love is. I have never experienced love.” She bitterly and emotionless continued.
“If you would try to define love Jane.. don’t.”, he showed a brief smile, “I don’t think it is possible to define it.”
She yawned.
“I’m going to bed. Goodnight.”, she said.
“Night Jane.”
With Andy’s shaving-apparatus she shaved her legs while sitting on her dorm bed. She remembered what also happened tonight and smiled with the thought: the discussion with Andy about facial hair versus leg hair. That was fun.. they had discussed who possessed more hair: Andy on his cheek or herself on her legs.
But it was important to be more serious. There was no time nor space for fun and playing like that. She was part of the Imperial army now.