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Kel knocked on Gawain's partially closed door, then pushed it open and poked her head in.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt," she said softly. "Meav's on the HoloNet, and she's asking to talk to a responsible adult."

"Responsible adults? I think she's in the wrong galaxy for that," Gawain said, completely deadpan.

Kel smiled lopsidedly.

"Ok, she asked to talk to you or Rel. Mind coming, or shall I go try and find Master Taric?"

"No, that's fine. I was nearly finished anyway," Gawain said and climbed to his feet. He felt somewhat ready to face the world again.

Wordlessly Gawain took the tablet from Kel's hand and slotted it into his HoloNet console. Meav's face appeared in three-dimensional holographic splendor above it.

"Meav. I would say it is good to see you, but you seem to only contact us when something terrible is about to happen."

Meav smiled.

"Sorry. I guess that's the downside of being of a former merc who is trying to go native. I hope all is well there?"

"As well as things ever go on Dittotopia. A magician turned all of the children between the ages of five and seven into rabbits last week, but Drake fixed them. Fortunately all of our youngest Padawans were offworld at the time. I do not think any of the masters is prepared to deal with Force-powered human-sized rabbits," Gawain replied.

Meav wrinkled her nose.

"Dittotopia: place of mystery and enchantment and the weirdest people ever known to man. I guess that is what makes it interesting," she shrugged. "Since Kel has sent me multiple items from the Jedi records, I presume she's briefed you on my situation. I went to the newest settlement here tonight. It was an interesting venture, to say the least."

"What did you learn? Anything that sheds light on the situation there?" Gawain asked.

"Yes and no," Meav frowned. "There is no sign of Jashri Ji, which concerns me. However, there is a reason why the settlers are so on edge. Apparently a lot of children have gone missing. It isn't just a few that have wandered into the woods and gotten lost--more like dozens of children, and from the descriptions it seems like someone is actively culling out the best and brightest. The description of the woman they've tied the disappearances seems to match Darlene's. They've taken to calling her 'gypsy', I guess, based on her more eccentric style of dress and hair.
"I'm concerned, however, because if any children leave with her, they are around twelve or so, and less than a half dozen have gone with her. All of those children left with the consent of their parents. Shortly after, a 'shadow' comes and steals away many others. I'm afraid that this thing, whatever it is, is following Darlene and might hurt her. It doesn't sound like her to be involved in anything that could harm any creature. She's mischievous, but kind hearted. What do you make of it?"

"It sounds like something worth investigating. Entities that steal children rarely ever have their best interests at heart and knowing what this galaxy is like it could be anything from a faerie taking them away to be playthings under the hills or something that prefers the human equivalent to veal," Gawain said. "Do you know why Darlene would be collecting a following of children? Is she Force-sensitive?"

"I would guess she is, but merely because I think the majority of our people had a degree of sensitivity. Both Kel and I are, obviously, and I think Jashri Ji was, too. But I don't think Darlene's ever had any training, formal or informal. She's a shapeshifter. I can't think of any reason why she would go after children, though, unless she was doing something bizarre like trying to recreate the elementals in them or something. It doesn't make sense at all. This behavior doesn't match her character."

"Could she be acting under the influence of some power? Is there anything or anyone on your planet that might direct her to do this? Or even force her into doing so? It would not be the first time mind control or possession the Order faced," Gawain speculated.

Meav shook her head.

"The elements are worried, but there is no power that I can detect--at least, not one strong enough to control a person that much. I may have a bit of a lead, though. There is a traveler here that is from one of the other settlements, which recently lost some more children. I'm hoping he'll have more information, or at least can point me in the right direction. Regardless, I'm planning to get to that settlement as soon as possible. Whatever is causing this has to leave tracks somewhere. Kids don't just disappear into thin air."

"Is there anything in particular interesting about the settlements? Any pattern to the towns visited? Is there some specific location Darlene's path points to that might give us a hint what we would be going up against?"

"Nothing that I could say for sure from what I've heard so far. It does seem that there is a pattern to the visits, giving a bit of a gap so that new settlers can arrive and bring new children. And again, I don't know for sure if it is Darlene or not. That is simply a guess on my part based on the description. Of course, they have all sorts of folk stories to explain the disappearances--apparently the most prominent theory is that the former inhabitants have cursed the planet, and come to claim the children. Sort of goes with the faeries tricking the children into coming into the underground city and enslaving them tale. I think most planets have a version of that, though."

"Is it possible there's any truth to that? Could there be any of your people left hidden on the planet that for whatever reason might seek revenge on new settlers or try to frighten them away? Or did anything like this happen before in your history? Maybe there has been something hidden on your planet all along that preys on children periodically."