Star Wars: The Great Awakening (Book I)

Several hours and 54 portable power cells later, Jolis was ready to finish out the day. Although he would routinely get so involved with his work that the day would normally slip by quickly, today was not one of those days.

He had tried to bury himself in his work in order to take his mind off his plans for the evening. Although he had brief moments where he was wrapped up in the mundane tasks of checking each portable power cell, his mind would often wander during the brief lulls of when he would finish one power cell and reach for another.

As the hours ticked by, however, Jolis began running through his mental checklist to see what he had accomplished today and what he was still planning to do.

After some time, a brief chime from outside could be heard. It was coming from the village center and it was music to Jolis' ears. Signifying that the workday was complete, Jolis nearly jumped out of his chair.

Looking out the nearby window, he could see that the weather looked good and there was still plenty of daylight left.

Grabbing his pack which contained an assortment of tools, Jolis was about to head out for the evening when he was stopped.

"Will you be needing my company this evening, Master Jolis?" asked V4, an almost pitiful expression to its computer generated voice.

"Actually, yes," replied Jolis. "I just need to make a few final adjustments and then I think it'll be ready."

"Oh, you mean the secret project!" said V4.

"Hush!" said Jolis quietly.

The red light flickered on the droid.

"Acknowledged. Hushing complete."

Jolis could only shake his head as he headed for the door.

As Jolis exited the building through the side door, V4 followed closely behind but naturally, drew several unwanted stares from fellow villagers. This was normal as most people were simply curious about the little prototype droid which they'd heard so much about. Today, however, Jolis was a bit more tense than usual.

"Maybe I should've left you back at the power station," said Jolis but it was too late to turn around. If anything, people simply assumed that Jolis was off on another one of his odd adventures. He had a reputation throughout the village of being one to keep to himself. Many saw it as a side effect of a brilliant mind. Whatever their thinking, Jolis was perfectly content with being left alone, especially tonight.

As he approached the main gate which led to his freedom for the evening, he spotted Shayla waiting by the exit. One of the few friends Jolis had in the village, she was always curious about what the slightly older boy was getting himself into. She tended to follow him around from time to time but tonight, Jolis needed to be alone.

"Hi Jolis," said Shayla as she spotted him approaching the gate. "Where are you off to this evening?"

"Just testing out V4's treads through some rough terrain is all," said Jolis. "Nothing special."

"Is that its name?"

Not wanting to waste the opportunity to introduce itself to a new face, V4 chimed in.

"Greetings! I am V4. Who might you be?"

"Oh wow! That's so incredible, Jolis!"

"Hello, Oh wow!" replied V4. "Very nice to meet you!"

Jolis smirked. "It still needs a bit of fine tuning but so far, it's doing a much better job than the previous versions."

Looking at Shayla, he could tell that she was completely mesmerized by the droid.