The sun was a relentless enemy, a golden hammer beating down on Jakku's endless dunes. Rey tugged her ragged scarf over her mouth and nose and crouched beside a half-buried speeder.
Her tiny fingers danced over exposed wires and burnt circuits. Machines had always spoken to her, and even at five, she could hear them clearly.
The speeder gave a reluctant shudder, then hummed. Rey blinked. 'That was too easy.' She ducked behind a sand dune just as a scavenger patrol passed by, muttering in their coarse tongues about missing parts.
Her healing device buzzed faintly against her chest. She was thirsty, dehydrated almost to the point of collapse—but the device pulsed warmth through her body, a temporary lifeline. She swallowed air instead of water, heart racing, knowing Plutt would not wait for her to die.
Rey glanced at the Vortex Storage Bracelet on her wrist. It gleamed faintly in the sun, a pocket-space miracle. She began hiding her supplies—metal scraps, water rations, a few found electronics—inside the bracelet, creating a tiny hidden cache only she could access.
And then it happened. A strange warmth, faint as a whisper, tickled the edges of her mind. It was… familiar, almost comforting. It had happened on occasion in the last month.
---
Somewhere far away, Ben Solo paused mid-meditation. His muscles relaxed, his heartbeat steadied. Luke noticed immediately.
"Ben seems… calmer than usual," Luke muttered, eyes narrowing.
"Is something wrong?" one of the students asked.
Luke didn't answer. Somehow, he already knew the Force had a new variable.
---
Rey crouched behind the dune again, listening to the mechanical whispers of her scavenged speeder. She didn't understand the ripple she'd just sent through the Force—didn't care. She was alive, and that was the only thing that mattered.
Her system beeped faintly:
[MISSION COMPLETE: Survive 30 Days]
[Reward: +10,000 SC
Ability Acquired: MCU — Enhanced Situational Awareness (Low)]
[Balance: 130,000 SC]
Rey's mind raced, calculating priorities.
[PURCHASES:
Item Purchase 3 — I Shall Survive Using Potions:
Basic Water Potion Formula — 5,000 SC
Balance: 125,000 SC
Item Purchase 4 — Star Trek:
Type-1 Micro Phaser (Stun-only edition) — 20,000 SC
Balance: 105,000 SC]
Rey smiled faintly, tiny hands working quickly. The phaser could disable scavengers. The potion formula meant she wouldn't collapse under Jakku's heat. And the machines—oh, the machines—they were already hers.
A shiver ran down her spine, not from the sand or the sun. Somewhere across the galaxy, a boy was calmer because she existed.
Rey whispered softly to the desert:
"I'm going to survive. Always."