Max Vizsla pressed his palms together and, with all the air of a wandering mystic, said, "There's an old saying in my home system: saving one life is worth more than raising seven sacred towers."
"Sacred towers? What are those?"
"A kind of structure," Max said. "Something like the spires on the Jedi Temple or a Sith shrine."
"Sir..." Maul trailed off, as if uncertain whether to continue.
"What, you don't believe me?" Max arched a brow, then realized he still had his helmet on. "After I send you home, I still have to go save one of your sisters."
"One of my sisters?"
"No blood relation. But she's of your people—another Zabrak. Broadly speaking, that makes her your sister. Unlike you, she's a Jedi."
"You like going around saving people?"
"You could put it that way, though it sounds a little strange when said like that. Better to say I enjoy the satisfaction that comes from helping others."
"There are countless beings suffering across the galaxy. Even if you never slept and spent every waking moment saving people, how many could you possibly save?"
Max did not answer directly. Instead, he asked, "And what of it?"
"Sir does not think such efforts amount to very little?"
"How could they?" Max said with a smile. "At the very least, they matter a great deal to you—and to your sister. Do they not?"
At those words, Maul rose to his feet, then dropped respectfully to one knee and offered Max a formal bow of gratitude.
"My thanks, sir, for saving my life."
"Sit, sit. None of that." Max gently lifted Maul back up with the Force and settled him into his chair again. "I may not dare call you a friend just yet, but I believe that in time, we can become friends. And friends don't need this kind of ceremony."
"Sir, what do you mean by 'not dare call me a friend just yet'?" Maul asked, puzzled.
"Maul, how well do you understand your former master?"
"What does that have to do with why you do not yet dare befriend me?"
"Your former master killed his own parents with his own hands. He also killed his own master. Parents, master—when a Sith Lord wishes someone dead, they die. The debt of birth, the debt of teaching—those things mean nothing to a Sith Lord." At that, Max gave a low chuckle. "So what would a mere life-debt to me amount to, in comparison?"
Maul fell silent.
He remained silent for a long time.
"If that is so," he finally said, "then why do you believe we might be friends in the future?"
"Because you are not Darth Sidious, Maul. There is a seed of light hidden in your heart. One day, it will sprout. It will grow. It will bloom, and bear fruit."
"Heh..." Maul shook his head and asked with a faint smile, "Does sir hope that I will turn to the light and become a Jedi?"
"The world is not only black and white. Nor are Sith and Jedi the only ways for one to wield the Force." Max pointed toward Christopher Wren behind him. "Mr. Wren and I are neither Sith nor Jedi."
Force-users beyond Sith and Jedi... Dathomir... my mother... my brothers and sisters...
Fragments seemed to stir in Maul's memory, but he could not assemble them into a complete picture. The failure left him irritated.
After giving his head a sharp shake, he asked, "In your eyes, then, is the world gray?"
"Gray exists, naturally. But it is not the only color." As he spoke, Max activated the holoprojector and began working through something on its controls. "Between black and white lies a riot of color—endless possibility."
Maul stared.
If the power of the dark side alone is not enough for me to surpass my master... and if what this man says is true...
"This is only your speculation, is it not?" Maul asked.
"It is fact."
With a light wave of his hand, Max started the holoprojector. It displayed footage he had just pulled up: a beam of white light passing through a prism and breaking apart into a spread of many colors; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet pigments being poured into a single container and stirred together until they became a deep, heavy black.
That's it?!
Maul was distinctly disappointed.
"Sir, what does this prove?"
"In the material world, light and dark work this way. So do the light and dark sides of the Force."
Maul said nothing.
Seeing that, Max smiled and continued, "Maul, do you still have your Sith holocron?"
"I do not."
"Ah? How could that be?" Max feigned surprise. "Even Darth Tyranus has one. And you followed—never mind. No matter. I know where to find such a thing."
Even without the Force, Max could tell that Maul's breathing had grown heavier.
He went on, "You've seen a Sith holocron in Darth Sidious's possession before, haven't you? Palm-sized, a perfect pyramid."
"I have," Maul answered expressionlessly.
"The Jedi have holocrons of their own as well. Cubes, not pyramids. You knew that, yes?"
"I did."
"Then do you know what happens when a Sith holocron and a Jedi holocron are joined as one?"
"A Sith holocron and a Jedi holocron can be fused together?" A deep furrow formed between Maul's brows. He had no idea how much his master had kept from him.
"If the dark side and the light side of the Force were as absolutely opposed as the Sith and Jedi claim," Max said, "then a Sith holocron, which records dark side knowledge, and a Jedi holocron, which records light side knowledge, should be incapable of merging. Correct?"
When Maul nodded, Max continued.
"And yet the opposition between the light side and the dark side is only an outward appearance. Each contains something of the other. They depend on one another, restrain one another, stand in opposition and unity at once. In essence, they are two faces of the same whole."
"Is this a theory you created yourself?" Maul cut in.
Max did not answer. He simply went on.
"When a Sith holocron and a Jedi holocron are joined, dark side knowledge and light side knowledge merge as well, giving rise to knowledge without end—enough to discern the beauty of the cosmos and unravel the principles of all things."
"Have you fused them yourself?"
"I have not." Max raised his right index finger. "But I have witnessed it before, and I learned a great deal from the sight."
This man is not lying! Then...
"Sir..." Maul began, only to swallow the rest of the sentence. He could vaguely hear that Max was speaking to someone over comms.
"I understand." After ending the call, Max turned back to Maul. "Mori the Senran is awake. Want to go see him?"
PS: Dooku really did have a Sith holocron in his possession, but Palpatine did not give it to him. He stole it from the Jedi Temple himself.
PPS: In the Legends continuity, when Dooku was still a Jedi apprentice, he was falsely accused of stealing a Sith holocron from the Jedi Archives. The Jedi Order later uncovered the truth and cleared his name.
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